World No. 4 tennis star Coco Gauff dug deep to reach the Miami Open semifinals for the first time, overcoming a break point in the deciding third set to take down No. 12 Belinda Bencic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old is now the youngest US player to reach the Miami tournament's semis since Serena Williams's 2004 run, with Gauff looking to right what's been an up-and-down start to the year when she faces Czechia's No. 14 Karolína Muchová on Thursday.
"It just feels like I shouldn't be where I am," Gauff said postmatch. "But tennis doesn't lie, the ball doesn't lie, so I just have to believe myself."
Notably, Thursday's semifinals could impact the sport's live WTA rankings, giving Gauff a chance to leapfrog No. 3 Iga Świątek following the Polish star's historic first-round upset loss.
Should Gauff succeed, it will mark the second downward shift for Świątek during the Sunshine Double, after Elena Rybakina took over her previous No. 2 ranking during the Indian Wells Open.
With her new career-highest rank in tow, Rybakina will enter a Top-2 clash with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open's other semifinal, with the pair most recently facing off in three tournament finals: Rybakina topped Sabalenka to win November's 2025 WTA Finals and January's 2026 Australian Open before Sabalenka avenged the losses by downing the Kazakh star in the Indian Wells championship match.
How to watch the 2026 Miami Open semifinals
No. 4 Gauff and No. 14 Muchová will kick off Thursday's Miami Open semis at 3 PM ET, with No. 1 Sabalenka facing No. 2 Rybakina at 8:30 PM ET.
Live coverage of both semifinals will air on the Tennis Channel.
