It took five match points, but No. 3 seed Coco Gauff survived a comeback bid by No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory to reach the semifinals of the Italian Open in Rome on Tuesday.
Gauff held a 5-1, two-break lead in the third set before finally putting away Andreeva with her seventh break point of the two-hour, 18-minute match, securing her fourth appearance in the Rome semifinals.
Gauff, who lost to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the Rome final last year, will face Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who swept unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-1, 7-6 (0) in another quarterfinal match. Cirstea, the No. 26 seed, has lost her three previous matchups with Gauff, including two this year (Madrid and Miami).
Gauff improved to 5-0 against Andreeva, having taken down the 19-year-old in last year’s Rome quarterfinals as well.
“Especially with my forehand and return, I thought I did well with that,” Gauff told reporters. “Obviously wish I could have closed it out a little bit earlier in the third. She definitely raised her level. I put myself in the position to win on pretty much every game.”
In the decisive third set, Gauff utilized her speed to her benefit, while also capitalizing on unforced errors by Andreeva, to build a 5-1 lead. Gauff was two points away from her fourth career 6-1 set against Andreeva, but could not finish it off until it got too close for comfort.
Andreeva got the match back on serve, but on Gauff’s fifth match point, the Russian’s backhand down the line was barely out, allowing Gauff to breathe a sigh of relief.
“I think you have the lead, I know when I play her she can play great tennis at any moment,” Gauff said. “But I was also thinking, I saved a match point in the last round, so I could easily not be here today.
“I was just trying to appreciate just being here even if those match points weren’t going my way. I think it showed in my reaction every time I lost them.”
In the opening set, Andreeva jumped out to a 3-1 lead with a well-placed drop shot, but Gauff battled back to tie it at 3-all before Andreeva broke the American’s serve on the next game en route to winning the set.
Gauff turned the tables in the second set, racing out to a 3-0 advantage before breaking Andreeva on set point to even the match, setting the stage for a thrilling finish.
–Field Level Media
