"I was just thinking 'Coco Gauff is the same age as my career'; it felt pretty interesting" - Victoria Azarenka on reaching Guadalajara Open semifinals

Friday night saw Victoria Azarenka down Coco Gauff 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open in two hours and 44 minutes.

This was the first meeting between 33-year-old Azarenka and 18-year-old Gauff. The 37th-ranked senior player turned pro in 2003, around a year before the seventh-ranked American was born. In an on-court interview after the match, Azarenka stated that she kept thinking about the fact that her career and Gauff are around the same age.

"I was just thinking, 'Coco is the same age as my career,' so it felt pretty interesting," Victoria Azarenka said. "She's such a great athlete and I can't wait to see how far she'll go. It was a lot about the first ball, trying to serve smart, and trying to put a lot of pressure on the return. She served really well, she was mixing a lot, so I was just trying to adjust when I had opportunities. I had quite a few and I couldn't convert them, so I tried to just stay consistent and look for another one, and not get down on myself."

Fifth seed Gauff hit 10 aces throughout the match, compared to none from Azarenka, and both players broke each other five times. However, winning the first set tie-break seemed to make all the difference for the two-time Grand Slam winner, who improved her win-loss record for the season to 24-12.

The Belarusian will square off against third seed Jessica Pegula in her first semifinal of the season tonight. It will be the fourth meeting between the two players, with Azarenka leading 2-1 head-to-head. The other two semifinalists in the WTA 1000 tournament are Maria Sakkari of Greece and Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.

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"The more matches I can have in a row is always going to be beneficial" - Victoria Azarenka after advancing to Guadalajara Open 3R

Victoria Azarenka (L) and Paula Badosa

Victoria Azarenka took on Paula Badosa in the second round of the Guadalajara Open. The former took the first set before the Spaniard retired mid-match citing an illness.

In the post-match press conference, the Belarusian was asked how she would deal with less match practice in the tournament. The 33-year-old stated that although she benefited from playing many matches in a row, playing in different conditions helped her improve as well.

"It's definitely good I played the match in different conditions compared to my first match," Azarenka said, adding, "The more match play I have, the better I think I can work on my game. I didn't have that much play this year consistently, so the more matches I can have in a row is always going to be beneficial."

Azarenka also wished eighth-ranked Badosa a speedy recovery and expressed her wish to play her soon again.

"It's unfortunate we couldn't finish the match, and I hope Paula feels better, and the next time we play she's healthy, fully healthy," she stated