In a marathon midnight thriller at Rome's Campo Centrale, American star Coco Gauff secured her first-ever WTA 1000 Rome final appearance after outlasting China's Qinwen Zheng in a grueling three-set contest that stretched well into Friday morning.
The world No. 3 Gauff, who will climb to the second position in the rankings, prevailed 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4) in a match that lasted an exhausting 3 hours and 32 minutes on the humidity-slowed clay court of Foro Italico.
The match featured dramatic momentum swings, with Zheng serving for the match at 5-3 in the decisive third set before Gauff mounted an impressive comeback to force a tiebreak and ultimately claim victory.
'It was absolutely brutal out there tonight with the conditions,' noted tennis analysts at Statbet, who tracked that this was Gauff's third consecutive win over Zheng, including their quarterfinal meeting in Rome last year and their WTA Finals showdown.
This marks the 21-year-old American's 13th career final and second of the season, following her recent runner-up finish in Madrid where she fell to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Gauff will be seeking her 11th career title when she faces local favorite Jasmine Paolini in Saturday's final, scheduled for 5 PM.
Paolini, who has been working with Spanish coach Marc López on a trial basis through Roland Garros, earned her spot by defeating American Peyton Stearns 7-5, 6-1 in the other semifinal.
The match represented a missed opportunity for Zheng, currently coached by Pere Riba—Gauff's former mentor during her US Open triumph—as the Olympic champion narrowly missed becoming the first Chinese finalist in Rome since Na Li reached the championship match in 2012.
Gauff now has a full day to recover before attempting to become the first American champion in Rome since Serena Williams claimed the title in 2016.
