Jasmine Paolini is through to the Italian Open final for the first time after her victory over Peyton Stearns.
Paolini will play Coco Gauff in Saturday’s final, which marks just their second career meeting on clay.
The Italian Open has seen some shocking results in the women’s draw, with the top two seeds falling out of the tournament before the semi-finals.
Iga Swiatek crashed out of Rome in a third-round straight-sets defeat to Danielle Collins, while world number one Aryna Sabalenka lost to Qinwen Zheng in a heavy quarter-final defeat.
Home favourite Paolini took a moment after her triumph over Stearns to give her verdict on the shocking omissions of the world’s top two players from the latter stages of the tournament.
Jasmine Paolini says Iga Swiatek’s Italian Open upset was more surprising than Aryna Sabalenka’s
When asked who the more surprising exit from the Italian Open was between Swiatek and Sabalenka in her post-match press conference, Paolini answered: “Because of how the seasons went in past years, I would say Swiatek.”
She explained: “Because she’s won here before. She’s an incredible player on clay, [having] faced her at Roland Garros last year.”
“On the one hand, it surprises me, but tennis is like this, every week and every year. It’s not easy to stay at these levels.”
“She will definitely come back to Rome and win this tournament. Obviously not seeing her on the board here is surprising, but it’s normal, and I think she’ll definitely recover.
Jasmine Paolini’s head-to-head record with Italian Open final opponent Coco Gauff
Paolini and Gauff have played each other three times in their career, with their latest clash coming just last month in Stuttgart.
The Italian enjoyed her sole victory over the American in the German city, handing Gauff a 6-4, 6-3 defeat in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Their first matchup came in 2021 at the Adelaide International, where the former US Open champion opened her account in the head-to-head, beating her opponent over three sets.
At the Cincinnati Open in 2023, Gauff clinched a second win over the current world number five in the quarter-final, before going on to win her first WTA 1000 trophy at the event.
With a maiden clay WTA 1000 title up for grabs, Paolini looks to make history as she bids to become the first Italian to win the singles tournament in Rome since Raffaella Reggi in 1985.
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