Coco Gauff and Peyton Stearns ensured the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia would feature two American women when they won their Round of 16 matches on Monday in Rome.
On a day free of upsets, Gauff had perhaps the most impressive victory when the No. 4 seed breezed past Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-2 in 79 minutes.
Gauff had a 4-0 advantage in aces, won 28 of 37 first-service points (75.7 percent) and saved all three break points she faced. Afterwards, she credited her forehand.
“I think today (the forehand) was the reason why I won the match,” Gauff told reporters. “Especially on this surface, I think I can do a lot with it.”
Gauff is keen on staying hot on clay heading into Roland Garros later this month. She advanced to the final of the Madrid Open earlier this month, beating World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland along the way before falling to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
“It still feels so slow compared to Madrid, but I’m getting used to it with each match,” Gauff said of the surface in Rome. “I feel really happy with how I played. I think I really was the one dictating the match for the most part.”
In the only match without a seeded player, Stearns, the 42nd-ranked player in the world, defeated 48th-ranked Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4).
The match suffered a distraction when Italy’s national air force display team executed a flyover, with green, white and red plumes creating the national flag overhead.
With the third set tied 4-4, Stearns saved a whopping five break points before winning the ninth game to hold serve. She fell behind 3-1 in the tiebreaker before storming past her more seasoned opponent, with four Grand Slams to her name.
“Going into matches like this, if you don’t hit the ball, you’re not going to win,” Stearns said. “I think mentally I was like, ‘You have to get every ball. If you miss, you miss, but you have to go for it.'”
Stearns went 3-for-3 in converting break points and had six aces while absorbing Osaka’s 10.
Next up, Gauff will face No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who rallied past No. 22 Clara Tauson of Denmark 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Gauff defeated Andreeva in the Madrid quarterfinals in straight sets.
Stearns gets Ukrainian No. 16 seed Elina Svitolina, who bested No. 29 seed Danielle Collins of the United States 6-4, 6-2.
Sabalenka, the top seed, made it through a lengthy second-set tiebreaker to finish off Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 7-6 (8). Sabalenka saved a set point before winning on her third match point.
Sabalenka’s next opponent is No. 8 seed Qinwen Zheng of China, a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Canadian Bianca Andreescu. Italian sixth seed Jasmine Paolini beat No. 17 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 7-5, 6-2; Paolini’s next opponent is Russian 13th seed Diana Shnaider, who beat No. 25 Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
