No.7 seed Coco Gauff of the United States moved into the Western & Southern Open semifinals for the first time with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Italian qualifier Jasmine Paolini on Friday.

The only American woman to make it into the singles quarterfinals on home soil this week, Gauff eased past World No.43 Paolini in 1 hour and 12 minutes to book her spot in the final four in Cincinnati.

"Really happy with how I was able to play today," Gauff said, after her win. "She's not an easy opponent. Last time I played her we had a long three-set match. So I'm happy to get it in in straight sets today."

Cincinnati: Draws | Schedule | Scores

WTA 1000 semifinal return: After her three straight-sets wins this week, Gauff is into the third WTA 1000 semifinal of her career. She has previously finished as a semifinalist at Rome in 2021 and in Dubai earlier this year.

The 19-year-old becomes the first teenager to make the Western & Southern Open semifinals since Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 2010. She is also the first American teenager to make the Cincinnati semifinals since Halle Cioffi in 1988.

Gauff holds a 41-24 win-loss record at WTA 1000 tournaments. Her 41 victories at WTA 1000 events are the most any player has obtained at that tournament level before turning 20 years old.

Top seed awaits: In the semifinals, Gauff will face a frequent opponent, World No.1 Iga Swiatek. Earlier on Friday, Swiatek defeated No.10 seed Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets, in a battle between the two most recent Grand Slam champions.

Gauff has yet to take a set off of Swiatek in their seven career meetings, which include last year’s Roland Garros final and two encounters already this season, including the Roland Garros quarterfinals.

"I don't have a good track record against [Swiatek]," Gauff said. "I feel like the [2023] French Open match that I played her, even though it was a straight-sets score line, I think I made some improvements against her since the last time I played her.

"I'm just really going to go out there and continue to follow the plan that I've been doing in the last couple of my matches. ... I do feel a lot more confident going into it tomorrow. But she's not an easy opponent to play, especially against me. I think I really just got to take it point by point and try to stay mentally engaged every ball."

Match moments: Gauff improved to 2-0 against Paolini with her quarterfinal win on Friday. The American teen finished the match with three more winners and two fewer unforced errors than the 27-year-old Italian. Gauff also had 14 break points in the match, converting six.

Paolini broke Gauff in the American's opening service games of both sets, but Gauff rapidly stormed back in front on each occasion. In the second set, Gauff made frequent successful forays to the net, and she reeled off the last six games of the match to claim a semifinal spot.