Coco Gauff pulled off an impressive comeback win over an in-form Paula Badosa to book the 2024 Italian Open quarter-finals.
The match between Gauff and Badosa sounded like a proper tennis delight, especially after the Spaniard found her best tennis recently. It proved that way when they put together a really fascinating tennis match that went the distance and saw the American ultimately win. The Spaniard had her chances thanks to her recent level, but the American was too relentless.
The first set started calmly from both players, who were able to hold their serves. The first break came in the seventh game when Badosa broke for a 4-3 lead in the opening set of the match.
She made it 5-3 but failed to serve it out, so it was 5-5 after ten games played. Unfortunately for the youngster, Gauff didn't hold her nerve and got broken again, which allowed Badosa to take the first set 7-5. It was a strange set because both players played like copies of one another.
Both struggled with the serve, the 20-year-old especially, but both also dominated behind the first serve. They lost a combined 2 points behind the first serve in 12 games of play. The second serve was the issue, especially for Gauff towards the end of the set.
In the second set, we saw everything on all sides. Both still struggled with the serve but found other ways to hurt the opponent. Quite a few breaks happened in this set, as Gauff lost her serve twice while Badosa lost it three times. At the end of it, Gauff stood on top, winning the second set 6-4 to force the decider.
The final set was another rollercoaster. Badosa actually took an early lead by breaking Gauff but the American stormed right back. She actually pulled off a bagel, winning six games in a row to go from 0-1 to 6-1. The final score was 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 for Gauff, who earned a really big comeback win.
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