Coco Gauff is back in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final for the second year running after a straight-sets win over Sorana Cirstea on Thursday.
The 22-year-old dropped the first two games but rallied to take the opener 6-4, then closed out the second set 6-3 in 1 hour 15 minutes. It’s her fourth win in a row over Cirstea and her first straight-sets victory against the Romanian.
Gauff had needed three-set comebacks in her previous three matches, so Thursday was a cleaner run. She broke decisive in the eighth game of the second set and held serve to seal it.
Quick takeaways:
– Perfect vs Cirstea: Gauff is now 4-0 against her, including three wins this season in Miami, Madrid, and Rome.
– 16th WTA final: It’s Gauff’s 16th career final and sixth on clay. Her last eight finals have all been at Grand Slams, WTA Finals, or WTA 1000 events.
– 28-match streak: She’s won 28 straight matches after taking the first set, dating back to last year’s Cincinnati quarterfinal.
– Making history: At 22, she’s the youngest American to reach back-to-back Rome finals since Venus Williams in 1998-99. She’s also the first player to do it since Iga Swiatek in 2021-22.
Gauff will face Elina Svitolina in the final. Svitolina leads their head-to-head 3-2, including two wins earlier this year.
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