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Coco Gauff endured a three-hour battle in the semifinals of the Italian Open to reach her first final at this Masters 1000 tournament. The world No. 2 has gotten her season off to a somewhat uneven start considering her high expectations, but she has been rounding into form during the clay season. Gauff was phenomenal in her run to the Madrid Open final in early May. The 21-year-old exorcised some demons, defeating four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-1 before falling to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Now, Gauff is into a second straight final and will be the favorite to collect her second career Masters 1000 title. And that is thanks to her epic semifinal win over world No. 8 Qiwen Chen. The scoreline for this classic was 7-6 4-6 7-6 in favor of the young American. While Gauff will now turn her attention to Jasmine Paolini, who is up to No. 5 in the world right now, she was justifiably fired up by this huge victory over Chen.
FOUGHT HER WAY INTO THE FINAL 👊
After an over 3 hour battle, @CocoGauff rallies her way into the final in Rome defeating Zheng 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6!#IBI25 pic.twitter.com/ICi4zfL1nI
— wta (@WTA) May 15, 2025
It's very encouraging that Coco is playing at this level ahead of a 2025 French Open that seems more open than usual. Iga Swiatek has dominated this major since 2020, winning four of the five past tournaments. However, the world No. 4 has not been in good form recently, particularly on clay. That being said Aryna Sabalenka is very much a threat on this surface, especially coming off her third Madrid Open win. Those two, alongside Gauff, are the favorites heading into Roland Garros.
Clay has been one of Coco's favorite surfaces throughout her decorated career. She has made it to the quarterfinals or better at Roland Garros four straight years, including an appearance in the final in 2022. Three out of those four times, Gauff was eliminated by Swiatek, which is why her win over the world No. 4 is so valuable. Of course, the French Open is a different animal, but this was Coco's first victory over Iga on clay.
Overall, the world No. 2 has her work cut out against Jasmine Paolini. The Italian No. 1 will have the Rome crowd firmly behind her as she looks to win her second career Masters 1000 title. Paolini has an accomplished history on clay, including reaching the French Open final last year. Nevertheless, with Gauff's recent form, she is the favorite and will be expecting to walk away with a second Masters 1000 and major trophy in the next couple of weeks. She certainly has the potential to accomplish both of those feats, but of course, it's a long road to the top.
