Coco Gauff was put through her paces in order to reach the Miami Open semi-finals for the first time as she beat Belinda Bencic over three sets on Wednesday. 

Gauff needed two hours and 15 minutes to secure a 6-3 1-6 6-3 victory against Bencic, which teed up a clash with Karolina Muchova for a place in the showpiece match. 

The American quickly set the tone in the match and raced into a 3-0 lead, and though Bencic broke back, Gauff reeled off three of the last four games to edge herself in front. 

However, Bencic responded emphatically in the second set, needing just 29 minutes to brush aside Gauff and ensure the encounter would go the distance in Florida. 

Both traded blows in the decider and though it was Bencic who struck the first blow, Gauff hit back with a break of her own in the sixth game, and cruised to victory from there.

Gauff sealed her progression in style, ending another enthralling rally with a drop shot that Bencic was able to return, only for the fourth seed to volley the winner at the net. 

"It was a tough match," Gauff said in her on-court interview. "Belinda is a tough player. Every time we play, it's a long match.

"It took a lot of running today, some falls, but I'm really proud of how I fought today. I think that's been the theme of the week.

"It felt like today, my opponent, she raised her level, and I was able to raise it in the third."

All #heart @CocoGauff | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/p9pEmlqIvS

— wta (@WTA) March 25, 2026

Gauff's reward is a clash with 13th seed Muchova after the Czech beat Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko 7-5 7-6 (7-5). 

Muchova has now claimed 10 wins at the Miami Open – equalling her highest tally at a single WTA Tour event, excluding Majors (levelling Doha and Cincinnati).

Data Debrief: Gauff goes the distance, again

If Gauff reaches the Miami Open final, she will overtake former world number one Iga Swiatek and move to third in the WTA rankings next week, though she will be hoping to have a smoother route to the showpiece match than she has had so far. 

Since the format's introduction in 2009, Gauff is now the first WTA top five player to reach a WTA-1000 semi-final only via three-setters en route.

Gauff has also only had more three-setters against Aryna Sabalenka (six) at WTA level than against Bencic (five). The 22-year-old became the youngest American to reach the women's singles semi-finals at the tournament since Serena Williams did so in 2004 – the year she was born.