Cincinnati Open: Paolini beats Gauff to march into semifinal

Cincinnati [US], August 16 (ANI): Jasmine Paolini advanced to the semifinals of the ongoing Cincinnati Open women's singles competition, defeating Coco Gauff in their quarterfinals clash on Saturday.

Paolini, the world number nine with three career tour-level titles, outclassed Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion by 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, making a remarkable comeback after fumbling the first set.

This is her third win against the American in as many meetings in 2025.

During the decider, Paolini encountered an injury scare, rolled over her ankle while hitting a running forehand and after some consultation with her trainer, she shrugged off the pain to win the match.

Despite not being in her best form this year and having lost several matches from positions of a win, Paolini overcame her past to win seven points on a trot and 12 of the last 15 to make it to her 15th semifinal of the season and her second at the WTA 1000 level. Gauff's match was filled with errors as she hit 16 double faults and 62 unforced errors in action, which lasted just over two hours.

"It was so tough," Paolini said afterwards as quoted by WTA's website. "At the beginning, I was just running and trying to put the ball inside the court ... but after a little bit, I started to feel better the ball. I stayed there every point, I tried to fight every point, and it worked," she added.

For a spot in the final, she will have to overcome former top 10 player Veronika Kudermetova, who marched into her first WTA 1000 semifinal since 2023. Paolini has lost three successive matches against her, though they last played at this same tournament in 2021. (ANI)

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