Jasmine Paolini Vs Coco Gauff: Italian Fights Back To Reach Her First Cincinnati Open Semi-Final

Jasmine Paolini had to fight to earn a stunning comeback win over Coco Gauff and book her place in her first Cincinnati Open semi-finals.

The Italian had to come from a set down and an injury scare to clinch her 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory in a gritty match that lasted just over two hours.

Gauff started brilliantly, breaking Paolini's serve twice in a row to take a 3-0 lead, and though she lost her own in the following game, she did not let her focus slip.

Another break took Gauff to 5-2, and she converted set point with little fuss to put herself on the brink of the last four.

However, Paolini made a stronger start to the second set, earning the first break, which saw five consecutive losses of serve between the pair, but Paolini had the edge, forcing a decider without dropping a point on Gauff's serve in the final game.

Paolini then rolled her ankle on a running forehand at the start of the last set, needing to see the trainer before the next game, but shrugged off the issue quickly to break Gauff's serve for the fourth game in a row.

The pair traded blows once again, but the 29-year-old then lost nine straight points from 3-1, 40-30 up in the decider. She then held her nerve with a three-game winning streak to get over the line, and will face Veronika Kudermetova in the final four.

"It was so tough," Paolini said afterwards. "At the beginning, I was just running and trying to put the ball inside the court, but after a little bit, I started to feel better with the ball.

"I stayed there every point, I tried to fight every point, and it worked."

Data Debrief: Paolini has Gauff's number

This was the third meeting between Paolini and Gauff in 2025, and the Italian has come out on top in all of those.

Friday's win also means that since 1990, Paolini (Cincinnati and Rome 2025) has become the first Italian to defeat multiple grand slam champions at a single Tier 1/WTA-1000 event on hard and clay court.

She got some help. Paolini won 71.8% (62/85) of her total points via Gauff unforced errors – the only WTA Tour match in 2025 where the American conceded a higher rate was also against Paolini in Rome – 76.4% (55/72).