Rampant Coco Vandeweghe stunned French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in a blitz of big hitting to steam into her first Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday.
The unseeded power-server upset the seventh-seeded Spaniard 6-4, 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena in a dominant display to secure her first ever berth in a Grand Slam last four.
Vandeweghe, one of the tallest women on the circuit at 6ft 1ins (1.85 metres), had been supremely confident heading into the match after stunning world number one Angelique Kerber in round three, and there was no stopping her. “I really wasn’t feeling great out there. I was nervous… I was second-guessing myself,” the 25-year-old said. “But I kept the pressure on and she finally cracked. Once I got rolling in the second set it was like a freight train, you couldn’t stop it.”
It is her best performance at a major, bettering her quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon in 2015, which was her only run to the last eight at a Slam until now.
The right-hander, ranked 35, has a reputation for inconsistency and she finished last season with a whimper, losing seven of her last 10 matches. But she has in brilliant form so far this year. Vandeweghe comes from a sporting family. Her mother Tauna was an Olympic swimmer and volleyballer, her grandfather Ernie played for the New York Knicks and her uncle Kiki is general manager of the Denver Nuggets. —AFP
