World No.1 Iga Swiatek crushes Coco Gauff, moves into final of Italian Open

ROME: Iga Swiatek booked her place in the final of the Italian Open on Thursday, taking down Coco Gauff in the semifinal with a dominating display. The straight-sets 6-4, 6-3 victory marked Swiateks 10th win against the American.

This brings Swiatek to a tantalizing juncture in history. Only Serena Williams (2013) managed to win consecutive titles in Madrid, Rome and Paris. Swiatek could lock down the first two legs in Saturday’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia final against the winner of the evening match between No.2 Aryna Sabalenka and No.13 Danielle Collins. With a win, the 22-year-old from Poland would find herself in the enviable position of being the overwhelming favorite at Roland Garros.

The 15th-ranked American Danielle Collins beat former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday night to reach the semifinals and extend her record to 19-1 since early March.

Having won back-to-back titles in Miami and Charleston, South Carolina, recently, she hasn’t dropped a set on Rome’s red clay.

Collins underwent surgery in 2021 to treat endometriosis and has said she wants to have a child — which is why she plans to retire at the end of the year.

Tommy Paul has produced the biggest clay-court result of his career at the Italian Open. The American outlasted ninth-ranked Hubert Hurkacz 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday to earn a spot in the semifinals at the Foro Italico, following up from a straight-set victory over defending champion Daniil Medvedev.

Paul broke the big-serving Hurkacz seven times but also dropped his own serve six times.

“My game plan coming in was, I got to get in as many of his service games as possible and try and get a couple of breaks. So on that aspect, I did very, very well today,” Paul said. “But my next match, I’m probably going to focus on holding serve a little bit more.”

Before beating Medvedev, Paul had never defeated a top-20 player on clay. Now he’s defeated two top-10 players back-to-back for the first time in his career — on any surface.

The other semifinal match, 2017 Rome champion Alexander Zverev thrashed Alejandro Tabilo, who eliminated top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the third round, by 6-4, 6-3.

The third-seeded German fell on his stomach and suffered cuts to his wrist and finger after hitting a backhand return in the third game.

He was treated on court before play resumed after a short delay and he returned to attack Fritz’s serve, converting three of his five break-point chances and hitting 20 winners en route to a 90-minute victory.

“I still have a little bit of pain, so once the adrenaline settles I’m going to check out tomorrow what it is. But definitely happy with the win,” said Zverev.

Zverev will meet 29th seed Chilean Alejandro Tabilo in the last four after he beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 6-4. Agencies

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