Defending champion Gauff rallies past Bencic into China Open quarterfinals

BEIJING - Second seed Coco Gauff battled back from a set down to overcome Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 and reach the China Open quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Bencic, the 15th seed and Tokyo Olympic champion, broke late in the first set to seize the opener 6-4 on Diamond Court.

World No 3 Gauff responded in the second, with both players trading breaks before the American forced a tiebreak, which she edged 7-4 to level the match. At one stage, Bencic smashed her racket and complained to the chair umpire about distractions from Gauff's team box.

The 20-year-old defending champion then took full control in the decider, breaking twice to storm into a 5-1 lead before closing out the contest with a confident service hold.

It was their sixth career meeting, with Gauff extending her head-to-head edge to 4-2.

Gauff will next play either Germany's Eva Lys or American McCartney Kessler for a place in the semifinals.