Gauff rallies past Kostyuk to keep semifinal hopes alive

Coco Gauff beat Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 7-5 in their WTA Finals round-robin match Thursday, rallying from 1-5 down in the second set to keep her semifinal hopes alive. Her place in the last four still depended on the result of Jessica Pegula’s match against Linda Noskova.

Gauff won the final six games, saving three set points in the seventh game before drawing level at 5-5. She then held serve and closed out the match when Kostyuk hit a forehand into the net. The match lasted one hour and 39 minutes.

The victory left Gauff’s qualification beyond her control. A Pegula win over Noskova would send Pegula through and eliminate Gauff, while Noskova had already secured a semifinal place. The result of that remaining match was not established in the reports of Gauff’s win.

Gauff had also faced a fight in the opening set. After taking a 5-2 lead, she was broken while serving for the set, then broke Kostyuk in the following game to claim it. In the second, Kostyuk built a 5-1 advantage before Gauff began her comeback.

Gauff said she had started thinking about a third set while trailing 5-1, but believed she could win once the score reached 5-4. She also credited Kostyuk’s errors. Gauff had nine...