ROME : Coco Gauff reached her second consecutive Italian Open final on Thursday with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, before Elina Svitolina defeated world number three Iga Swiatek 6-4 2-6 6-2 to book her place in the title match.
Third seed Gauff recovered from an early deficit against Cirstea, who had stunned world number one Aryna Sabalenka earlier in the tournament.
The 22-year-old American fell behind 4-2 in the opening set before winning four consecutive games to seize control of the match.
Play in the second set was briefly halted after a spectator required medical attention, but Gauff maintained her composure. Although Cirstea twice recovered breaks of serve, Gauff secured the decisive break in the eighth game before serving out the match in just over an hour.
The victory sent Gauff into her second WTA 1000 final of the season following her runner-up finish to Sabalenka in Miami in March.
“I think I learned a little bit more from each match,” Gauff said in her on-court interview. “Those are the matches you get through … I’m really grateful to be in the final.”
Cirstea, 36, exits the tournament after one of the biggest upsets of the week with her third-round win over Sabalenka. The Romanian has said she plans to retire later this year.
Later on Thursday, seventh seed Svitolina advanced to her first Rome final since 2018 by overcoming Swiatek in three sets.
Swiatek produced 28 winners but was undone by 50 unforced errors as Svitolina stayed steady in the deciding set to seal victory.
“After so many years I’m happy to be again in the final,” Svitolina said.
Svitolina’s run to the final also included a quarter-final victory over second seed Elena Rybakina.
Gauff, who lost last year’s Italian Open final to Jasmine Paolini, will now attempt to win the Rome title for the first time against two-time champion Svitolina.
