Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff advance to Italian Open semifinals with straight-set wins

By Canadian Press on May 14, 2025.

ROME (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz won in straight sets despite a strong challenge from Jack Draper to reach the Italian Open semifinals, and Coco Gauff extended her unbeaten streak against Mirra Andreeva to also advance to the last four at the clay-court tournament Wednesday.

Alcaraz was made to work hard on his serve and saved six of the eight break points he faced on his way to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Draper, who beat him earlier this year.

The third-ranked Alcaraz, who withdrew from the Madrid tournament due to an upper right leg problem that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final, moved well on the court, often took to the net and used his trademark drop shots and groundstrokes to the best effect.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who also had a left leg injury, had lost to Draper in their most recent meeting in the semifinals at Indian Wells, California, in March.

Alcaraz rallied from 2-4 to claim the first set. A turning point then came in the eighth game of the second set, when Draped looked like he could force a decider. That game lasted almost 10 minutes and Alcaraz saved two break points before coming out on top. Alcaraz broke at love in the next game and sealed the match.

“The most important thing that I did today was not thinking about the shots at all,” Alcaraz said. “Not thinking about the fact that I was down, just trying to do the things that make me happy. On court I just tried to be aggressive, play good shots, drop shots, go to the net. That’s what I like to do on the court, and I think that made the difference today.”

Alacaraz’s next opponent will be either defending champion Alexander Zverev or Lorenzo Musetti.

Gauff in control

In the women’s draw, Gauff played aggressively throughout to advance to the last four for the third time with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win.

Both players hit high-quality shots in the tiebreaker, including Andreeva’s superb drop shot just behind the net from a tight angle that allowed her to level at 5-5 before Gauff won the last two points to seal the match.

Gauff has won all four of her matches against the 18-year-old Andreeva, having also beaten her at the French Open and U.S. Open in 2023, and two weeks ago in Madrid.

Gauff will next play the winner between No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen. Jasmine Paolini and Peyton Stearns face off in the other semifinal.

Rome is the last big warmup before the French Open starts on May 25.

Sinner meets the pope

Also Wednesday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner visited the new pope, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner. Leo XIV, the first American pope, is an avid tennis player.

The pope and Sinner posed for photos in front of the Davis Cup trophy that Sinner helped Italy win for the second consecutive time last year.

Sinner has a quarterfinal match Thursday in his first tournament back after a three-month ban for doping that was judged to be an accidental contamination. He will next face freshly-crowned Madrid champion Casper Ruud, who beat Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-4.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

The Associated Press

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