Gauff downs Anisimova in straight sets to enter the semifinals of the Emilia-Romagna Open and will next play Katerina Siniakova.
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Coco Gauff defeated fellow American teenager Amanda Anisimova to book a semifinal spot in the Emilia-Romagna Open – her second last four showing in two weeks. No.3 seed Coco Gauff came out on top with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No.5 seed Amanda Anisimova in the quarterfinals on Thursday. She defeated her 19-year-old compatriot in an hour and 20 minutes of play. Notably, 17-year-old Gauff had reached the semifinals at last week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
“I was pretty satisfied with the way I played,” Gauff told the reporters after the match. “I do think I could have served a little bit better, but other than that, I was pretty happy with the way I played today.”
Earlier, Anisimova started the brighter of the two and twice held the upper hand in the first set to lead by a break at 2-1 and 3-2. But on both those occasions, Gauff pulled back level. With momentum on her side, the 17-year-old broke serve for a third straight time to lead 5-3. After seeing out the opening set, Gauff was expected to dominate the second, but it wasn’t the case.
Anisimova came all guns blazing and her positive start helped her go 3-0 up. From there on, it was all Gauff. The 17-year-old got back to her best as she quickly made it 3-3. She then eased her way through the latter stages of the second set. Anisimova did save three match points at 5-3, but Gauff sealed the match with the fourth in the first WTA meeting between the two.
“In the second set, I was actually missing a lot of balls in the first three games, I think I lost like seven or eight points in a row,” Gauff said. “And then I honestly decided to go for bigger targets, and just focus on hitting the ball deeper instead of trying to hit winners.”
Gauff will next take on Katerina Siniakova, who continued her impressive week in Parma, beating No.8 seed Caroline Garcia, 7-5, 6-1. Siniakova had stunned No.1 seed, Serena Williams, in the second round.
“She’s definitely a very tricky player, she uses a lot of variety in her shots,” Gauff said on Siniakova. “We’re both familiar with each other’s games, and it should be a good match.”
Another American player Sloane Stephens also reached the semifinals, beating Sara Errani, 6-3, 6-0 in an hour and 25 minutes.
