For the tenth time in eleven duels, Iga Swiatek dominated Coco Gauff on Thursday in the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 in Rome (6-4, 6-3). The world number 1 reached the final of the Italian tournament for the third time after her titles in 2021 and 2022. She will face the winner of the second semi-final on Saturday which will pit the American Danielle Collins against the Belarusian at the end of the day. Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff had, however, made the best start. When she entered the center of the Foro Italico, the 20-year-old American undoubtedly had a statistic in mind: in three matches on clay (two at Roland-Garros, one in Rome), she had never managed to steal a single set à la Polonaise. Impressive in the previous round against Zheng Qinwen (7-6 [4]6-1), the 3rd in the world then started the game with very offensive intentions.
Two double faults and Gauff collapses
His aggressiveness on the return, especially on Swiatek’s second balls, worked very well at first and a winning lob behind a good defense allowed him to break from the start (2-0). A lead lost in stride on a double fault. The match, of a very high level, was balanced, the players going blow for blow until 4-4.
But while she was leading 40-0 on her commitment, Gauff collapsed: two consecutive double faults at 40A, the break offered, then a shutout from Swiatek to conclude the round a few moments later. The player of Brad Gilbert and Jean-Christophe Faurel had missed her chance.
Swiatek quickly took the lead in the second set with a break at 2-2 on a backhand fault from the American. And despite a break point to be ruled out at 4-3, after her only double fault of the match, the Pole concluded a few minutes later with a backhand fault from Gauff.
