"It's tough" - Coco Gauff makes honest confession after defeating Lucia Bronzetti to reach 2nd Cincinnati Open QF

Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Lucia Bronzetti of Italy on Thursday (August 14). Gauff reckoned that she played an aggressive game for the most part, but the "super light" balls used in the tournament made the going tough.

The two-time Grand Slam champion also disclosed that her opponent wasn't giving her much pace, which caused her to get "a bit passive" in some of the games.

Gauff, who earned a bye in the previous round as a result of Dayana Yastremska's withdrawal ahead of the encounter, took 1 hour and 19 minutes to get the better of Bronzetti en route to her second quarterfinal at Cincinnati.

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Coco Gauff after beating Bronzetti to reach 2nd Cincinnati QF “For the most part I played aggressive. Maybe got a bit passive in some of those games. But it’s tough. The balls are super light and they fly. She wasn’t giving me much pace. I was trying to play with control but

During a post-match interview, the 2025 French Open champion rued a couple of missed chances when the Italian lost her serve but stated that she was able to close out the match by learning from her mistakes.

The second seed, who reached the final of the 2025 Madrid Open and Italian Open before triumphing at Roland Garros, was knocked out in the opening round at Wimbledon.

Gauff will take on Jasmine Paolini in a repeat of the 2023 Cincinnati Open quarterfinal. Both players faced off more recently in the final of the Italian Open earlier this year, with Paolini emerging victorious in Rome.

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“It’s super special to play on this court, I have so many memories from 2023" - Coco Gauff recalls maiden WTA 1000 crown

Coco Gauff became the youngest champion at Cincinnati back in 2023 - Source: Getty

An elated Coco Gauff recalled her maiden WTA 1000 win in Cincinnati back in 2023 after having prevailed in her third-round encounter against Lucia Bronzetti.

"It’s super special to play on this court, I have so many memories from 2023," Gauff stated after the match.

After getting past Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 in the 2023 quarterfinals, Gauff set up a semifinal against then World No. 1 Iga Swiatek. The Pole had won seven matches in a row against Gauff going into the Cincinnati encounter.

A gruelling 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 victory over Swiatek helped Gauff make it to the final of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career.

She then defeated Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4 in the title clash to create history by becoming the youngest champion ever at the Cincinnati Open. The win at Cincinnati was followed by a triumph at the US Open, where Coco Gauff stunned Aryna Sabalenka to become the first American teen to win the New York Major since Serena Williams in 1999.

Gauff failed to defend her Cincinnati Open title last year after losing to Yulia Putintseva in the second round.