Gauff d. Paula Badosa 5-7 6-4 6-1 in Rome Incredible fight from both. Great to see Paula back at this level again. But Coco has become so good at just gritting her teeth & finding ways to win. ✅1st Rome QF since 2021 🇺🇸❤️
Paula Badosa's resurgent run has ended with Coco Gauff taking care of business in a comeback win in the round of 16 of the Rome Open. The Spaniard won the first set, but finally the American was able to come back and take the match 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
In the first set, the first games were not going to have much history. Neither of the two gave break opportunities to their opponents. Badosa closed the first half of the set with an empty break o make it 3-3. Then, the Spaniard managed to break Gauff's serve on her first break point at 15-40, and went ahead to 3-5 after confirming the break with her serve.
However, Gauff was looking to turn around a critical situation for her, and with 4-5 and Paula Badosa serving, the American got a crucial break on the fourth break point to return the tie to the scoreboard, 5-5. But Badosa did not want to waste her high level of play, and after breaking Coco Gauff's serve again to make it 5-6, now she did not fail and closed the first set 5-7 with a break.
In the second set, Gauff was forced to turn the situation around if she wanted to advance to the quarterfinals in Rome. With 1-0 in favor of the American, Paula Badosa saved two break balls to make it 1-1. But with 2-1 against the Spaniard, it was time for Gauff, who went 0-40 up and broke Badosa's serve. After a crazy exchange of breaks, Gauff was 5-4 and, with a break in white, tied the match taking the second set 6-4.
After what we saw in the second set, with so many breaks of serve for both players, it was very difficult to predict what would happen in the third and final set. To begin with, Paula Badosa managed to break Coco Gauff's serve, but suffered a break that left the score tied again, 1-1. Here is where the American would take advantage of the most delicate moment of the match of the Spanish, as she got a break to get 4-1 up certifying the break with a game in white.
With Paula Badosa already on the ropes, it was just a matter of finishing off the set and the match for Coco Gauff, who would finally get it by a score of 6-1. In the quarterfinals of Rome, the world number 3 will face Qinwen Zheng.
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