ROME (AP) — Coco Gauff extended her unbeaten streak against Mirra Andreeva to reach the Italian Open semifinals on Wednesday.
Gauff played aggressively throughout to advance to the last four at the clay-court tournament for the third time with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win.
Both players hit high-quality shots in the tiebreaker, including Andreeva’s superb drop shot just behind the net from a tight angle that allowed her to level at 5-5 before Gauff won the last two points to seal the match.
Gauff has won all four of her matches against the 18-year-old Andreeva, having also beaten her at the French Open and U.S. Open in 2023, and two weeks ago in Madrid.
Gauff will next play the winner between No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen. Jasmine Paolini and Peyton Stearns face off in the other semifinal.
Rome is the last big warmup before the French Open starts on May 25.
In the men’s draw, Carlos Alcaraz later faced No. 5 Jack Draper, who beat him earlier this year.
The third-ranked Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid tournament due to an upper right leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final. The four-time Grand Slam champion also had a left leg injury.
While Alcaraz holds a 3-2 career edge over Draper, the British player won their most recent meeting in the semifinals at Indian Wells, California, in March.
Also Wednesday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner visited the new pope, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner at the Italian Open. Leo XIV, the first American pope, is an avid tennis player.
The pope and Sinner posed for photos in front of the Davis Cup trophy that Sinner helped Italy win for the second consecutive time last year.
Sinner has a quarterfinal match on Thursday in his first tournament back after a three-month ban for doping that was judged to be an accidental contamination. He will next face freshly-crowned Madrid champion Casper Ruud, who beat Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-4.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
