American star player Coco Gauff played the longest match of her career against China’s Zheng Qinwen at the Italian Open semifinal on Thursday, May 15. Despite securing the win, Gauff’s performance drew concern due to a high number of unforced errors and repeated service breaks. Zheng, too, struggled with a similar pattern of errors.
It certainly wasn’t easy to reach Gauff’s first Rome final, but her resilience recently earned praise from Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rick Macci.
Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach Rick Macci Was All Praise for Coco Gauff’s Resilience After Italian Open SF Win
The semifinal match on the center court lasted a whopping three hours and 32 minutes, with Gauff eventually prevailing with a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (4) scoreline. In fact, Zheng led by a break twice in the final set, but the American mounted a strong comeback and sealed the win.
However, the match was marked by a high unforced error count, 156 combined. The 2023 US Open champion racked up 82 unforced errors against just 27 winners, while the reigning Olympic champion committed 74 against a mere 22 winners.
On top of that, both players struggled to capitalize on break point chances, with Gauff converting just 9 of 17, while Zheng converted only 10 out of 27. Despite the topsy-turvy nature of the match, the 22-year-old held her nerves and booked her place in the Italian Open final for the first time.
Serena Williams’ ex-coach Macci, who frequently shares his post-match analysis online, reflected on Gauff’s performance. The 70-year-old noted that although the American had a high double fault count, she eventually found a way to win.
“Coco gifted 16 double faults and still got the W. At the end of the Day, a winner finds a Way.@CocoGauff,” he wrote on X.
Coco gifted 16 double faults and still got the W. At the end of the Day a winner finds a Way. @CocoGauff
— Rick Macci (@RickMacci)
Macci added that Gauff has a ‘heart of a lion’, highlighting her resilience, which could propel her to the No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings.
“Coco has the heart of a lion. She actually has 2 hearts 2 lungs 2 backbones a 2 handed backhand but 2 many double faults. This shows you how strong mentally this young warrior is and once the second serve is Stable number one is on the Table. @CocoGauff,” he added.
Coco has the heart of a lion. She actually has 2 hearts 2 lungs 2 backbones a 2 handed backhand but 2 many double faults. This shows you how strong mentally this young warrior is and once the second serve is Stable number one is on the Table. @CocoGauff
— Rick Macci (@RickMacci)
‘It Wasn’t My Best Level at All’ – Coco Gauff Said After the Match
Coco Gauff reflected on her performance post-match, saying she was happy with the win, but believed that she couldn’t showcase her true potential against the Chinese.
“Overall, I’m just happy. It wasn’t my best level at all, to be honest. Just happy to get through it and through to another final,” she said.
This will be the American’s second-straight entry into a WTA final following her runner-up finish in Madrid earlier this month. Gauff will face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the summit clash on Saturday, marking their fourth encounter on tour.