Iga Swiatek may be the world number one and have had a 37-match winning streak this year but says she is surprised to reach this week's US Open semi-finals.
Swiatek qualified for her third grand slam semi-final for the season with a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory over American eighth seed Jessica Pegula in one hour and 53 minutes on Wednesday.
The 2022 French Open champion and 2022 Australian Open semi-finalist became the first women's top seed to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 2016.
The victory comes after Swiatek's 37-match winning streak was ended in the third round at Wimbledon in June by Alize Cornet, winning four out of seven matches at three tournaments following that as the WTA Tour moved to hard courts in the lead-up to the US Open.
Swiatek expressed her surprise at making the last four during her on-court interview after the match and explained that, following early losses in the lead-up tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto.
"Looking logically at the last tournaments, I just didn't know if this one is going to be possible for me to be consistent and to win so many matches in a row," Swiatek told reporters.
"I feel like I've been playing better and better every week since the start of this swing. So it surprised me because after the losses that I had in Toronto and Cincinnati, I just wasn't expecting to play so well here.
"It gave me actually a lot because I could be kind of an underdog again, not maybe fully, but just not expect from myself that I'm going to win everything right now."
The Pole said her game "clicked" against Pegula, hitting 22 winners compared to the American's 14, winning 43-of-71 points on return.
"I'm pretty proud of it because I feel like I'm playing better and better every match," she said.
"Jessie was a tough opponent today, for sure. Second set was really tight. We both were fighting till the last point. I'm proud of myself that I could be the one to win the last one."
Swiatek will take on Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, while Pegula bows out having reached the quarter-finals at three of the four majors this year.
"I go back and forth, I should be positive," Pegula said. "At the same time I'm like, three quarterfinals. Sorry, but it sucks. It sucks.
"I wish I could have done it here at my home slam, but I guess not. I wish I didn't have to play Iga every quarter-final or Ash Barty, which seem to be the two people that don't really lose that often. So it just sucks.
"I had a great year at the slams. I know there's still some tournaments left. I'm a little deflated right now. I'm not real happy. It just sucks to lose. I just wish it would have been different tonight."
Angers 2-4 Paris Saint-Germain: Lee and Barcola bag braces as Enrique's side restore six-point lead
Paris Saint-Germain restored their six-point lead at the Ligue 1 summit with a 4-2 victory over Angers.
Luis Enrique's side did the damage in the first half at Stade Raymond Kopa, with Lee Kang-In and Bradley Barcola both scoring twice to extend their unbeaten start to the season.
PSG broke through in the 17th minute through Lee, who doubled his and the visitors' tally when he turned in Marco Asensio's low cross three minutes later.
Asensio was the provider again as the Ligue 1 leaders made it 3-0 just after the hour mark, with his centre diverted in by Barcola.
The latter grabbed his second just before half-time when he headed in from Lee's cross.
Angers made the scoreline more respectable in stoppage time, with Esteban Lepaul and Emmanuel Biumla halving the deficit for the hosts.
Data Debrief: PSG make it 30 unbeaten on the road
Now unbeaten in 30 away Ligue 1 matches, PSG are the first team in the top five European leagues to reach that mark since Napoli in 2018.
Lee scored his first brace for the club, while Asensio assisted two goals in the same league match for the first time since doing so for Espanyol against Real Betis in October 2015 (three).
Although, it was not all plain sailing for PSG, who conceded two goals in second-half stoppage time for only the second time in their history (also against Barcelona in the 2016-17 Champions League).
As for Angers, they have become the first team in Ligue 1 history to lose 15 successive matches against the same opponent.
WTA Finals: Gauff never gave up hope in topsy turvy showpiece
Coco Gauff explained how she kept her cool despite the helter-skelter nature of her WTA Finals clash with Qinwen Zheng.
Gauff prevailed 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2) in Riyadh on Saturday to become the youngest WTA Finals champion since 2004.
She was pushed all the way by Olympic champion Zheng, who led 5-3 at one stage in the decider and also clawed back four matchpoints before Gauff eventually got over the line.
"Tired, it's been a hard season," Gauff told Sky Sports after her victory.
"It was a really great match. Qinwen played some unbelievable tennis. I was just trying my best to hang in there and I never gave up.
"I was just telling myself, 'It's another point, another chance'. I've been in situations like this in the past and have been able to turn it around, and was able to do it again."
Gauff is the first player since Serena Williams (12, between 2013 and 2015) to win at least eight consecutive hard-court finals.
The 20-year-old collapsed on the court after her winning shot, something the American quipped she had mentally reserved for grand slam victories.
"At the end of the match, when I, like, fell on the floor, I didn't think I was going to do that," said Gauff, who has secured the year-end world number three ranking.
"I made a promise to myself that I will save that for grand slams. But honestly, to the way the match went, I was like, 'I'm just tired. I just want to lay on the ground.'
"I know I was like a couple of points away from losing, but, you know, I just tried to stay in the moment, honestly, and I'm really proud of myself."
For Zheng, it was a case of taking the positives from the first WTA Finals showpiece match that had to be settled by a third-set tie-break/
She said: "The match was very close, and then, you know, at the end, when you play this type of match, it's not about tennis, it's just about choices on court.
"When you lose a match, there's lessons you have to learn. So I would say it's a lot of positive things, because it's my first WTA Finals, but at the same time, I feel hurt to lose this match. But we will see. Maybe next time I will be better."
Juventus 2-0 Torino: Weah and Yildiz lift Bianconeri to third after Derby della Mole victory
Juventus climbed to third place in Serie A following a 2-0 victory over rivals Torino at the Allianz Stadium.
A goal in either half from Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz settled the Derby della Mole, and saw Thiago Motta's side extend their unbeaten start to the league season.
The Bianconeri broke through in the 18th minute when Vanja Milinkovic-Savic spilt a shot straight to Weah, who made no mistake from close range.
Weah thought he had doubled the lead in the 72nd minute, but the USA international was penalised for handball in the build-up to the opportunity.
However, Juve did put the contest to bed six minutes from time, when Yildiz nodded in Francisco Conceicao's deep cross at the far post.
Extending their unbeaten streak against Torino to 18 matches, Motta's side moved to within a point of Serie A leaders Napoli.
Data Debrief: Bianconeri extend unbeaten start with yet another clean sheet
Juventus have now registered nine clean sheets in Serie A this season, the most by any team in the big five European leagues.
Weah got the ball rolling, as he became the second American after Weston McKennie in December 2020 to score for the Bianconeri against Torino in Serie A.
Yildiz then sealed the victory. The 19-year-old became the third-youngest Juventus player to find the net in the Derby della Mole, after Felice Placido Borel (18 years and 243 days in 1932) and Bruno Nicole (18 years and 244 days in 1958).
Meanwhile, Torino have now suffered three successive defeats without scoring in Serie A for the first time since 2014.
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