On a brilliant sunny Thursday at Foro Italico, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek battled to a 4-all tie through the first 50 minutes, trading skittering defense and booming forehands. And then, Gauff briefly lost sight of the ball. Back-to-back double faults had the young American flailing her racket in frustration, providing Swiatek with a significant advantage. Swiatek hit the line twice in four points to win the first set. The second set invariably followed, and Swiatek won the battle in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 over the world’s third-ranked player, reaching the summit clash.
Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, Swiatek has become only the third player to reach multiple Italian Open finals as the WTA’s No.1, along with Serena Williams (three) and Monica Seles (two).
This victory brings the Pole star Swiatek to an exciting juncture in history. Only Serena Williams (2013) has won consecutive titles in Madrid, Rome, and Paris. Swiatek may secure the first two legs of Saturday’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia final against World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka. With a win, the 22-year-old Polish player would be the clear favorite at Roland Garros.
Swiatek has already won the Italian Open twice and the French Open title on three occasions. Winning Madrid for the first time a few weeks ago was a personal milestone, and you can see her confidence, represented in her swashbuckling game, flowing freely. Swiatek has already won 11 straight matches. That is also how many times she has faced Gauff in their WTA Tour careers, and she has a 4-0 record versus the American on red clay. Gauff, who turned 20 in March, aimed to become only the second player in a decade to reach the women’s singles final in Rome before turning 21.
Gauff eclipsed Caroline Wozniacki for the most WTA 1000 wins before the age of 21 when she defeated Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals. She is the defending US Open champion, but she is still looking to cut the gap over Swiatek. Few players, aside from Belarusian Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, can consistently place themselves in the Pole’s circle.
Gauff has been working on her service game in practice, but it has been lacking, particularly in crucial moments. Double faults are frequently caused by nerves under stress, and she finishes the event with a total of 45 in five matches. The double faults occurred only in that one game. Overall, if I’m going 120 [miles per hour] on the serves, I should expect it, Gauff told reporters.
