Paolini stuns Gauff in thrilling Cincinnati quarterfinal comeback
Jasmine Paolini defeated Coco Gauff 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday night. She’ll play Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the next round
Jasmine Paolini, Cincinnati 2025 | © Claude Cabut / PsNewz
Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No 7 seed, pulled off a remarkable upset against Coco Gauff, seeded No 2, last night at the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals, coming from a set down to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The reigning French Open champion Gauff started strong, dominating the first set with powerful serving and athletic groundstrokes, breaking Paolini three times and firing two aces. However, Paolini stayed resilient and capitalized as Gauff’s serving woes intensified.
In total, Gauff committed 16 double faults – a troubling sign that has affected her throughout the summer hardcourt season. She won only 12 points on her second serve (1 in the last set) and exposed herself to 15 break points.
After a closely contested second set (from 3-2 Paolini, each player lost her serve to lead to a 6-4 win for the Italian), Paolini broke Gauff three times to force a decider.
Gauff collapsed on her serve
Early in the third, Gauff’s serve completely unraveled, allowing Paolini to take control with a sixth break of the match. Paolini finished with a shout of triumph after Gauff’s forehand found the net on match point.
The Rome WTA 1000 winner was visibly moved by the support from the crowd, graciously thanking American fans for cheering her in spite of their loyalty to the home favorite.
With this victory, Paolini advances to her third WTA 1000 semifinal of the year and now leads their head-to-head encounters 3-2, with a first win on hard court. Gauff will now look to regroup before the US Open, as her struggles with the serve remain a key concern heading into New York. She only won against Italian Lucia Bronzetti (6-2, 6-4) and Chinese Xinyu Wang (6-3, 6-2) after her early exit against Victoria Mboko in Montreal.
Paolini, ranked No 9, will face Russian Veronika Kudermetova next. The Italian won against Czech Barbora Krejcikova (6-1, 6-2), American Ashlyn Krueger, the No 26 seed (7-6 (2), 6-1) and Greek Maria Sakkari (7-6 (2), 7-6 (5)) earlier in the tournament.
Cincinnati WTA 1000, other quarter-finals results (Lindner Family Tennis Center, hard, USD 5.152.599, most recent results first):
- Veronika Kudermetova beat Varvara Gracheva (Q): 6-1, 6-2
- Elena Rybakina (9) beat Aryna Sabalenka (1): 6-1, 6-4
- Iga Swiatek (3) beat Anna Kalinskaya (28): 6-3, 6-4
