Jasmine Paolini didn’t just beat Coco Gauff on Friday night at the Cincinnati Open. In a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 comeback victory in the quarterfinals — her third win against Gauff in as many meetings in 2025 — she also overcame two other opponents: her own body and mind.
Cincinnati: Draws | Scores | Order of play
First, the body. Paolini had a scare at the start of the deciding set when she rolled over her ankle while hitting a running forehand that had too much heat for Gauff to handle. After being visited by the trainer before the next game, she shrugged off any lingering discomfort to quickly break Gauff’s serve.
Next, the mind. The Italian had lost a handful of matches from winning positions this year — including a loss to Aoi Ito from 6-2, 4-1 ahead the last time out in Montreal. And it seemed as though another was going to slip through her fingers when she lost nine straight points from 3-1, 40-30 in the decider.
But the streak proved to be a bend, not a break. Paolini won seven points on the trot, and 12 of the last 15, to reach her fifth semifinal of the season, and her second at WTA 1000 level after winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in May. She was helped in part by an erratic Gauff, who hit 16 double faults and 62 unforced errors in a 2 hour and 3-minute match that saw 14 combined breaks of serve.
“It was so tough,” Paolini said afterwards. “At the beginning, I was just running and trying to put the ball inside the court … but after a little bit, I started to feel better the ball.
“I stayed there every point, I tried to fight every point, and it worked.”
For a spot in the final, Paolini will have to reverse a string of futility against former Top 10 player Veronika Kudermetova, who’s through to her first WTA 1000 semifinal since 2023. She’s lost three straight matches against Kudermetova, though they haven’t played since meeting at this very tournament in 2021.
“She’s a great player, big serve and big weapons,” Paolini said. “It’s always tough to play against her … this one is going to be a different story. She’s playing really well, I’m happy with my game here, so let’s see what I can do and hopefully it’s going to be a good one.”