Coco Gauff glides into semi-finals of rain-lashed Auckland Classic

• Top-seeded player hasn't dropped a set at the tournament
• Azarenka needs three sets to reach final four at Brisbane

Coco Gauff moved into the semi-finals of the Auckland Tennis Classic on Friday with a 6-1, 6-1 win for the the US Open champion against Varvara Gracheva of France on a rainy quarter-finals day.

The top-seeded player and defending champion needed only 24 minutes to win the first set and took the match in just eight minutes short of an hour. Gauff has not dropped a set at the tournament and did not drop a set in winning the tournament last year. Rain delayed the start of the match and was threatening at the end. But Gauff rushed to victory with dark clouds gathering, sending down five aces.