Rennae Stubbs shared her thoughts on Coco Gauff’s epic Italian Open semi-final against Qinwen Zheng.
For the second time in their careers, two of the WTA Tour’s biggest young stars did battle in Rome, in what was a gladiator-like affair.
In a contest that played out in a similar manner to their WTA Finals championship match in November 2024, Gauff rallied from 3-5 down in the final set to claim victory.
This was Zheng’s third loss to the American in as many meetings, and Rennae Stubbs had some things to say about her performance.
Rennae Stubbs says she is concerned by what she saw Qinwen Zheng do against Coco Gauff in Rome
Gauff came through a marathon match against Zheng to win 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4) at the Italian Open.
But as was the case in Riyadh with the WTA Finals title on the line, the Chinese number one held an advantage in the final set before Gauff completed the comeback.
Having watched both matches, Stubbs has pointed out her concern for Zheng and what she needs to change moving forward.
“That showed Coco’s resilience as well as I have ever seen. It also showed Qinwen’s vulnerability because she had that match, she should have won that match in the end,” Stubbs said on her podcast.
“Coco had her chances and didn’t get it done, then Qinwen had her chances and didn’t get it done. Then she got into a tie break and I think it was 4-2 in the tiebreak and all of a sudden you saw Qinwen really get nervous and she stopped attacking the ball, she got way too passive.
“Because Coco is very observant out there. She saw an opportunity to jump on that and she jumped on it. She was aggressive, she got back into that tiebreak and Qinwen just went error, error, error. It was crazy.
“She fell apart and that is a little concerning because really Coco is the one with the pressure on there, you have got to step up and finish that match.”
Coco Gauff’s win over Qinwen Zheng in Rome was the longest match of her career
Gauff took three hours and 32 minutes to see off Zheng to reach the Italian Open final.
That match is now the longest of Gauff’s career and she has won each of the five matches she has played that have lasted at least three hours.
“I was just trying to go for every point,” Gauff said afterwards. “I knew before it was going to be a physical match. Last time we played was over three hours.
“Overall I’m just happy. Wasn’t my best level at all, to be honest. Just happy to get through it and through to another final.”
Gauff was unable to take the title in Rome following a 4-6, 2-6 defeat to home favourite Jasmine Paolini, but her game is in a much better place heading into the French Open.
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