Coco Gauff makes comment about Jannik Sinner after losing in the Italian Open final to Jasmine Paolini

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Coco Gauff has lost her second consecutive WTA 1000 final after being beaten by Jasmine Paolini in Rome.

Gauff made history by reaching the Italian Open final for the first time in her career, backing up her run to the final in Madrid.

However, similarly to her final in the Spanish capital, the American was beaten in a straight sets final, this time with Gauff losing to Paolini.

Paolini was the fans’ favorite in Rome, but she is not the only Italian finalist bidding for a singles title.

Coco Gauff makes comment about Jannik Sinner after losing to Jasmine Paolini

Gauff knows what it is like to have the support of your home crowd behind her, having won her only major title to date at the 2023 US Open.

After the disappointment of losing to Paolini, Gauff was asked in her press conference about the strength of Italian tennis at the moment, particularly honing in on her final opponent and men’s world number one Jannik Sinner.

The 21-year-old was full of praise for both players and suggested that the Italian Open crowd have definitely played their part in the respective home successes in Rome.

“Facing the crowd? I mean, I think the crowd helps, speaking from experience, playing in a home crowd,” said Gauff. “I just know that it gives you that extra push, that extra motivation to do better and cross the finish line. I think that helps.

“Obviously Jasmine and Jannik, maybe overall I think they’ve done a good job with developing their games, specifically Jasmine.

“I played her a long time ago in Adelaide. I remember her playing a little bit more of a passive game style. Now she’s more aggressive. I think just developing their games and things like that.

“Yeah, obviously Jannik, he’s one of those talents that I think you just knew he was going to be great since he was young. Obviously that has something to do with the Federation, but I think a lot to do with him being a generational talent as well.

“Yeah, I think they have the support that they need here. This facility is great. I’m not sure of the ins-and-outs of it. Yeah, I think it’s great. Hopefully next year I can get a chance to have a different result. I’d love to play her again in the final. That would be cool.”

Paolini is the first Italian woman to win the Rome singles title in 40 years, and now Sinner has the opportunity to make history of his own.

Sinner will play Carlos Alcaraz for the ATP Italian Open title, as he looks to become the first home player to win the Rome Masters title since Adriano Panatta in 1976.

Coco Gauff explains how good she thinks Jasmine Paolini is

The Italian Open final was the fourth meeting between Gauff and Paolini, with the latter now levelling the head-to-head at two wins apiece following her latest triumph.

Paolini also beat Gauff last month on clay, with that straight sets victory coming on the indoor courts of Stuttgart.

Both of Gauff’s victories have come on hard courts, and she was asked how impressed she had been by Paolini’s improvements in recent years.

“Yeah, I think she’s definitely playing a good level of tennis,” said Gauff. “On clay, it’s hard. The two wins I had were on hard court. It’s a little bit different.

“Yeah, I think when she’s confident, she’s playing great tennis. Mid last year obviously she made the two back-to-back Grand Slam finals. She is capable of playing top two, number one in the world tennis. Obviously I’m disappointed to lose. I mean, she deserved it, so yeah.”

Despite losing in the final, Gauff will rise up to match her previous career-high of world number two, while Paolini will be the world number four when the WTA rankings are updated.