Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini to clash for Rome title

Tennis - Italian Open - Foro Italico, Rome, Italy - May 14, 2025 Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Russia's Mirra Andreeva REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel

Jasmine Paolini will face Coco Gauff for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia title in an Italian versus American showdown after they advanced through their respective semifinal assignments on Thursday in Rome.

Paolini, the sixth seed, defeated unseeded American Peyton Stearns 7-5, 6-1 to become just the third Italian woman to reach the final of her national open in the Open Era. Sara Errani lost in the 2014 final, and Raffaella Reggi was the last Italian to win the trophy back in 1985.

In the nightcap, the fourth-seeded Gauff outlasted eighth seed Qinwen Zheng of China 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (4) to become the first American woman since 2016 to reach the Rome final.

Paolini may have the home crowd on her side, but her path through the singles draw hasn't been easy. She defeated No. 17 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the Round of 16 before winning a three-setter against Russian No. 13 seed Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals.

Against Stearns, Paolini saved 5 of 7 break points and won 21 of 32 points on second return (65.6 percent).

"I'm trying to be in the mindset that last year was a great year, but it (gives) me a lot of confidence," said the 29-year-old Paolini, whose only previous WTA 1000 title came at Dubai in 2024. "I have to remember that, a lot of experience that I have ... under my belt. At the same time, this year is another year. It's different, completely different story."

Gauff's victory over Zheng lasted a whopping three hours and 32 minutes.

After Gauff pulled out a set victory in the first tiebreaker, Zheng controlled the second set. The player from China led 3-0 and 4-1 before hanging on to win the set and even the match.

Zheng and Gauff traded leads in the third until Zheng staked a 5-3 lead and served for the match. Gauff made sure her opponent would lose that game, though, then held serve to tie it at 5-5.

In the eventual tiebreaker, Gauff fell behind 2-0 before racing ahead with four straight points and soon finishing the job.

"I was just trying to go for every point," Gauff said. "I knew before it was going to be a physical match. Last time we played was over three hours.

"Overall I'm just happy. Wasn't my best level at all, to be honest. Just happy to get through it and through to another final."

Gauff hasn't won a title since the WTA Finals last November. The 21-year-old lost the Madrid Open final to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus earlier this month.

Gauff was Alex Eala's partner in the doubles tournament where they went against Paolini, along with Sara Errani, in the quarterfinals. Gauff and Eala, however, fell to the Italian duo.

--Field Level Media/Reuters

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