Coco Gauff marked her return to the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tereza Valentova.
Gauff’s Dominant Performance
Gauff broke Valentova’s serve six times. The third seed required 1 hour and 34 minutes to secure her 18th career match win at the Foro Italico. This win represents a career-best total for the American at tournaments outside the four Grand Slams on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.
Gauff is now 2-0 against Valentova, having previously defeated her at Roland Garros last spring.
Gauff’s reflections on the match
Gauff acknowledged that the “super talented” Valentova “definitely stepped up her level” in the rematch, especially on return. She served seven double faults in the match. However, she balanced this by winning more than 60% of the points played in Valentova’s service games.
“I felt like I was having to try so hard to hit big serves,” Gauff said, adding: “I missed some because she was pressuring my serve.”
Gauff continued, “A lot of things I thought she would do she didn’t do, which I guess makes sense because last year didn’t go so well [for her]. There were some changes, but I think that just goes with improvement.”
Key Stats from the Victory
- Gauff saved six of the 10 break points she faced in the match.
- Gauff has now recorded 20 wins this season in 28 matches played.
- Valentova hit two more winners than Gauff (17 to 15), and also two fewer unforced errors (27 to 29). But Gauff won nearly 20 more total points — 75 to 58.
Gauff’s Record Against Younger Players
Gauff’s win against Valentova snapped a short skid against players younger than her. Gauff is now 15-4 in her career against younger players, but just 3-3 since beating Valentova on her way to the title in Paris last year. She had lost her last two matches to such players — first to Alexandra Eala in Indian Wells (by retirement) and last week to Linda Noskova in Madrid.
Since that loss via retirement to Eala in March, Gauff is 7-0 against players ranked outside the Top 50 in the PIF WTA Rankings.
Looking Ahead
Gauff will next face unseeded Argentine Solana Sierra in the third round. Sierra defeated former Rome finalist Anhelina Kalinina 6-2, 6-3 to continue on in her main-draw debut in Rome, following a fourth-round effort in Madrid last week.