Iga Swiatek crushes Coco Gauff to register 10th victory against American, moves into Italian Open 2024 final

Iga Swiatek booked her place in the final of the 2024 Italian Open on Thursday, taking down Coco Gauff in the semifinals with a dominating display. The straight-sets victory marked Swiatek's 10th win against the American, with the last three of them coming on the trot.

It was Gauff who drew first blood on the night, breaking the World No. 1's serve to go 2-0 up. Swiatek, however, quickly caught up, taking the break back and restoring parity at 2-2. The two then held their next service games until 4-4, after which Gauff had a 40*-0 lead in her service game for a 5-4 score. From there, Iga Swiatek turned the tide, reaching advantage first by winning four points in a row.

While the World No. 3 managed to save that break point, she couldn't repeat the same on the second instance, allowing the four-time Grand Slam champion the chance to serve for the set. Swiatek obliged without breaking a sweat, converting 40*-0 to take the set 6-4.

In the second set, Swiatek began as the aggressor, breaking early for a 3-2 lead. After Coco Gauff fought hard to prevent a second break of serve (at 4-3*), the 22-year-old snapped up the set 6-3 with a decisive break of serve in the final game of the match to wrap it up in a little under 100 minutes.

Gauff's lone victory in 11 clashes against Swiatek till date came in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open last year, where the 20-year-old won in a tight three-setter. Since then, the World No. 1 has prevailed thrice in three meetings, with an encounter in Beijing and another at the WTA Finals preceeding their Rome meeting this week.

Iga Swiatek to take on either Aryna Sabalenka or Danielle Collins in Italian Open final

Iga Swiatek at the Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2024 - Day Eleven

Following her win over Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek will take on either Aryna Sabalenka or Danielle Collins in the final of the 2024 Italian Open. Sabalenka and Collins play in the second semifinal of the day later on Thursday, with their head-to-head currently 5-0 in Sabalenka's favor.

Swiatek has a 7-3 lead in the head-to-head against the Belarusian, and won their most recent encounter in the final of the Madrid Open earlier this month. Against Collins, the World No. 1 leads 6-1 in the head-to-head, and won their most recent clash at Indian Wells earlier this year.