Coco Gauff will be competing in her first final in nine months at the China Open in Beijing. The American continued her strong performance after a challenging summer by defeating Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals. Badosa, who has been in great form in recent months, was leading by a set and 4-2, but Gauff fought back by winning four games in a row to even the match. She then carried her momentum into the deciding set.

“I’m really happy with how I was able to come back today,” said Gauff. “Paula’s a tough opponent and every time we play it’s a tough match. I knew mentally I had to be there every point and, regardless of the result, I’m proud of how I was able to fight." Gauff has started working with new coach Matt Daly after parting ways with Brad Gilbert last month following her fourth-round exit at the US Open, where she was defending her title.

Coco Gauff's most recent final appearance was in Auckland in January, where she won her seventh tour-level title by defeating Elina Svitolina. She will be facing Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic in the final. Muchova secured her spot in the final by following her upset victory over Aryna Sabalenka with a 6-3, 6-4 win against the home favourite Zheng Qinwen.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic made a successful return to China by defeating Alex Michelsen and advancing to the third round of the Shanghai Masters. The 24-time grand slam champion had not competed in China since 2019 but chose it as the location for his first ATP Tour event since May. Djokovic has been playing sparingly lately and has only participated in a Davis Cup match for Serbia since his surprising loss to Alexei Popyrin in the third round of the US Open in August.

Michelsen, who is ranked 43rd, quickly took a 3-0 lead. However, Djokovic managed to level the score at 4-4 and then dominated the tie-break. Djokovic seemed to be in complete control when he was up 4-1 in the second set, but Michelsen staged a comeback. Although Michelsen had two opportunities in the tie-break to force a deciding set, he couldn't capitalize on either of them. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner both shrugged off the quick turnaround from their epic final in Beijing on Wednesday with comfortable victories.