Unseeded Cincinnati Open semifinalist Sara Bejlek gets Coco Gauff next

Sara Bejlek, the 20-year-old Cincinnati Open semifinalist from Czechia, is among the rising stars of women’s tennis.

The 5-foot-2 Bejlek continued her scorching run at Mason’s Lindner Family Tennis Center with a quarterfinal upset Friday of Madison Keys.

The unseeded Bejlek, whose current WTA ranking is 35th, is in the semifinals of the tournament with No. 4 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 7 Iga Swiatek.

Bejlek will face Gauff in her first WTA 1000 semifinal. Gauff, who defeated Marta Kostyuk in straight sets to advance, has never faced Bejlek.

One round before defeating Keys, Bejlek stunned top seed Aryna Sabalenka.

In a Tennis Channel interview with Prakash Amritraj, Bejlek described her most recent win as “incredible.”

What to know about Bejlek:

Bejlek said nerves were an issue in dropping her first set vs Keys.

“I was trying to cool down a little bit,” Bejlek explained. “I was pretty nervous in the first set. So I was just trying to cool down and not think about what is going on. I was thinking ‘do the best that you can do’ and that’s it.”

Bejlek said she tried to move on quickly from her upset of Sabalenka.

“Today when I woke up I was like, ‘Okay, it’s a new day. Anything can happen. Let’s focus (on) what is today at 1 p.m. and don’t focus on anything else. This happened. And let’s keep fighting again,'” Bejlek said.

Bejlek credits Rafael Nadal as her main influence growing up.

“Rafa was the big one who inspired me a lot,” Bejlek said. “I watched him when I was little. So he was the one who inspired me.”

Bejlek said she has many interests, including sports.

“I love everything around,” Bejlek said. “All sports, all kinds of music. All kinds of food. I’m enjoying my life also outside of tennis. … I’m hanging out with my dogs. We have three dogs at home. … I totally love them. So when I have a bad time, they are the ones who keep inspiring me that they are happy when I’m there, no matter what.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Unseeded Cincinnati Open semifinalist Sara Bejlek gets Coco Gauff next