Coco Gauff outlasts Zheng Qinwen after two tiebreaks at Italian Open

Fourth seeded Coco Gauff of the U.S. defeated No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen of China 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4) in the women's singles semifinals at the Italian Open in Rome, Italy, on Thursday, becoming the first American to reach the decider at the tournament since 2016.

Having lost to Gauff in their previous two meetings, Zheng faced a rough start this time as she suffered a break in her first service game, trailing 2-0. However, she soon bounced back to replay two breaks and led 3-2 after five games.

Gauff returned the favor to gain the advantage back 5-3, but Zheng repeated it again to lead 6-5 before the opponent scored her fourth break for the set to enter a tiebreak. The 2023 U.S. Open champion then outperformed Zheng 7-3 to take the first set.

Zheng broke Gauff first in the second set and built herself a 3-0 lead. The two then exchanged four breaks as the 22-year-old Chinese clinched the set and tied the match 1-1.

The third set began with a break by Gauff, but Zheng broke her twice to lead 5-3 after eight games. The American added another break and then held to tie the set 5-5. Both held their next serves for the second tiebreak of the night. In the end, Gauff took it 7-4 to seal the deal.

"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."

"I don't think there's a clear difference between me and her (Gauff)," Zheng said. "It's just the problem of a few key points. I had chances during the match, but I could have been a little bolder or more aggressive during certain key plays."

Gauff will face home favorite, top-ranked Italian Jasmine Paolini in the final. The No. 6 seed came from 4-1 down in the first set and saved two set points, to defeat Peyton Stearns of the U.S. 7-5, 6-1 in the other semifinal match.

"I'm trying to be in the mindset that last year was a great year, but it gave me a lot of confidence," Paolini said. "I have to remember that, a lot of experience that I have in my belt, under my belt. At the same time, this year is another year. It's different, completely different story."