Italian Open: Gauff gets better of Andreeva again to power into semi-finals

Coco Gauff, the No 4 seed, won against Russian Mirra Andreeva, the No 7 seed, 6-4, 7-6 (5) to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome.

The American has reached her third last-four berth in the Italian capital, and improved her head-to-head record against Andreeva to 4-0 in the process, having also beaten the precocious young Russian in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open earlier this month.

Despite the straight-set score line, it was a close contest, with the pair exchanging a flurry of breaks across both sets before a tight tiebreak went the way of Gauff.

Gauff, ranked No 3, will play the winner of the match between Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, and Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 8 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the 21-year-old American beat Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko (3-6, 6-2, 6-1), Pole Magda Linette, the No 32 seed (7-5, 6-3) and Emma Raducanu (6-1, 6-2).

Andreeva, ranked No 7, defeated Colombian qualifier Emiliana Arango (6-2, 6-4), No 30 seed Linda Noskova (6-1, 7-5) and Dane Clara Tauson, the No 22 seed (5-7, 6-3, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the Rome tournament.

Rome WTA 1000, other last-eight results (Foro Italico, clay, EUR 6.009.593, most recent results first):

• Aryna Sabalenka vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Peyton Stearns beat Elina Svitolina (16): 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
• Jasmine Paolini (6) beat Diana Shnaider (13): 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2