Coco Gauff shared her wish for Danielle Collins in her final season as a tennis player.
The American duo reached the Italian Open semifinals but were beaten by Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka respectively.
They are two of the US’s top-ranked players and will aim for success at the upcoming Roland Garros to mark the end of the spring portion of the clay-court season.
Not only are they great representatives for American tennis but the pair share a great relationship, which Gauff described following her defeat in Rome.
Coco Gauff shares insight into relationship with Danielle Collins
Several American players had a strong Italian Open campaign which bodes well heading into Roland Garros.
Gauff and Collins reached the semi-finals while Taylor Fritz reached the quarter-finals, and Tommy Paul will face Nicolás Jarry for a spot in his first Masters 1000 final.
The 20-year-old is pleased how well her compatriots performed in Rome and supporting each other pushes them to improve.
“I think Danielle has been on a string of wins lately. I think we just all root for each other and push for each other,” Gauff told reporters about her relationship with Collins.
“We speak all the time. Danielle and I, I love her. Me and her got closer after the Billie Jean King Cup we did together. She’s just a great person honestly. I love to see her do well. I think if you ask her, she loves to see me do well.
“I think it is a camaraderie. I think it does push us to be better. I think on clay people underestimate Americans and they think we hate the European swing.
“I was hoping maybe I could win and Tommy could win and it would be an American sweep. If this is her (Collins) farewell tour, I think she deserves it a lot. I was hoping I could win today to play her in the final.”
Coco Gauff sufferers 10th defeat to Iga Swiatek
Despite making a strong start and producing some of her best tennis of the year at times, Gauff once again suffered defeat at the hands of Swiatek.
The US Open champion began the encounter by breaking the 22-year-old’s serve and opening up a 2-0 lead, before Swiatek broke back to level proceedings at 2-2.
The World Number Three was consistent from the baseline in set one, and looked to be aggressive especially off the return of serve.
But the complexion of the match changed when Gauff squandered a 40-0 lead at 4-4 as a series of backhand errors and multiple double faults cost her dearly as Swiatek broke serve.
The Pole made no mistake closing the set on her serve and she after breaking early in the second frame, there was no stopping Swiatek as she closed out a 6-4, 6-3 win in one hour and 48 minutes.
Though Gauff produced just four double faults, her second serve is still a glaring issue. She managed to win just 37% of her second serve points as Swiatek claimed four breaks throughout the contest.
The top seed will face second seed Sabalenka in Saturday’s final, a rematch of their epic Madrid showdown.
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