Gauff Battles Back to Avoid Early Rome Exit
Coco Gauff, the reigning French Open champion, secured a crucial victory at the Italian Open by overcoming American teenager Iva Jovic in a challenging fourth-round match. Despite trailing 7-5, 5-3 and facing match point, Gauff rallied to win 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 on the clay courts of Rome.
Last year, Gauff reached the Rome final, where she was defeated by Italy's Jasmine Paolini. This year, her preparations for defending her Roland Garros title appeared in jeopardy as she struggled against 18-year-old Jovic. However, the world number four, who had also recovered from a set down against Argentina's Solana Sierra in the previous round, demonstrated resilience to prevail.
Although victorious, Gauff acknowledged the need to elevate her performance to replicate her previous success at the Italian Open and contend for the French Open, which commences on 24 May.
Gauff, who claimed her second Grand Slam title by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in last year's Roland Garros final, was far from her best in a dramatic encounter played under testing windy conditions. The match was further disrupted by the noise of fighter jets flying over the Foro Italico venue.
"I'm just proud - Iva played really good tennis and the conditions weren't the easiest. Everything was going on," said Gauff, who will face Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals.
"Thanks to my team - their pep talk helped me mentally."
Gauff's relief at avoiding another early clay-court exit was evident, especially after recent losses in the Stuttgart quarter-finals and Madrid last 16. She struggled with footwork and her forehand during the opening two sets.
After Jovic missed match point with a forehand into the net, the American took advantage of a cut on Jovic's finger caused by an earlier fall on the red clay. This injury appeared to affect Jovic's grip, leading to multiple errors as Gauff, who has mentioned dealing with "tough" off-court issues, turned the second set in her favor.
In the deciding set, Gauff continued to play imperfectly but focused on consistency and exploiting Jovic's difficulties. The 17th-ranked Jovic, who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals earlier this year, hit loosely and her first serve declined. The players exchanged five breaks of serve before Gauff secured the final three games to win the match.
"In my previous round I was not good mentally on the court and this was a complete 180. It shows I can continue to be positive in the most part," Gauff told Sky Sports.
Clinical Sinner Continues Unstoppable Masters Run
In the men's draw, Italian world number one Jannik Sinner maintained his pursuit of an unprecedented sweep of ATP Masters titles with a commanding third-round victory.
Sinner, 24, defeated Australia's Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 6-0 in just over an hour, aiming to claim the Rome trophy for the first time. Winning his home tournament would make Sinner only the second man, after Novak Djokovic, to win all nine Masters titles, the tier of events just below the Grand Slams.
Sinner has triumphed in the past five Masters tournaments, and his dominant performance against Popyrin extended his winning streak at this level to 30 matches, just one shy of Djokovic's 31-match record set in 2011.
In his current form, the four-time major champion appears unbeatable. With top rival Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury and several other top seeds eliminated, Sinner faces few obstacles.
The next opponent challenging Sinner's historic bid is Italian qualifier Andrea Pellegrino, who has reached the last 16 of a Masters event for the first time. Prior to this week, 29-year-old Pellegrino had never competed in a Masters main draw but continued his impressive run by defeating two-time US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (10-8), 6-1.
A victory over Sinner would constitute a major upset, ranking among the greatest surprises on the ATP Tour.
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