![\"Coco](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275636681-e1778872556124.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
USA’s Coco Gauff serves to Romania’s Sorana Cirstea during the 2026 Italian Open.<\/p>\n
Coco Gauff will compete in the 2026 Italian Open final for the second year in a row. At age 22, she\u2019s the youngest American to reach the Italian Open final in back-to-back years since Venus Williams in 1998 and 1999.<\/p>\n
During the Italian Open final last year, she fell to Jasmine Paolini. Now, after defeating Romania\u2019s Sorana Cirstea 6-4,6-3, she\u2019ll take on Ukrainian veteran Elina Svitolina for the title on May 16.<\/p>\n
After losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open final in March, Gauff is making her second WTA 1000 final appearance in Rome and her 16th career final.<\/p>\n
![\"Coco](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275634641.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
GettyUSA\u2019s Coco Gauff celebrates after winning against Romania\u2019s Sorana Cirstea at the 2026 Italian Open.<\/p>\n
Svitolina feels ready for her match against Gauff. \u201cI know what to expect from her game. I think she knows my game, as well. It\u2019s going to be a big battle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While Gauff is 0-2 against Svitolina this year, the 22-year-old is hoping to clinch her first-ever title at Stadio Centrale. If fans are looking to see Gauff\u2019s boyfriend, Jalen Sera<\/a>, in the stands cheering her on, however, they will be disappointed.<\/p>\n Coco Gauff\u2019s Boyfriend Jalen Sera Remains in Atlanta During the Italian Open<\/p>\n Sera posted a video on his Instagram Stories that showed him at Injury Reserve\u2019s show at Purgatory at The Masquerade in Atlanta on May 13. With the French Open just around the corner, maybe Sera is saving his international travel for Roland Garros.<\/p>\n Gauff and Sera, a musician, keep a very low profile. However, they will celebrate three years together in June.<\/p>\n GettyCoco Gauff has been dating Jalen Sera for nearly three years.<\/p>\n Gauff highlighted his quiet support while speaking to E! News<\/a> in August 2025. \u201cHonestly, after a good match, I just talk to my boyfriend, my friends, everyone cause I\u2019m in a good mood,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I lose, I would say just my boyfriend \u2019cause he is the only one that can take me and my mood after a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n While the couple keeps their romance out of the spotlight, Sera\u2019s support means the world to Gauff. \u201cHe\u2019s always telling me to trust the process,\u201d she noted. \u201cJust know that I\u2019ve already accomplished a lot and there\u2019s no need to be so negative.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s kind of what my whole team, my parents, everybody says. I\u2019m someone that can criticize myself a lot, so I just try to make sure that I stay positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Coco Gauff Calls How Tennis Is Scored \u2018Brutal at Times\u2019 \u201cIf there\u2019s anything I would change about the scoring? Maybe, like, the way the games are 15-Love, 30-Love. That doesn\u2019t make any sense to me. It\u2019s so hard to explain that to people. It\u2019s 15-30, but it goes to 40. Why?<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, 1-0, 1-All situation. At least make it incrementally. It should be 45 not 40 so yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEmily Bicks<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Bills, Seahawks and Chiefs. She’s contributed to Heavy since 2019 and has interviewed some of the biggest stars in sports, including Jerry Rice, Shaquille O’Neal and Stefon Diggs. More about Emily Bicks<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty USA’s Coco Gauff serves to Romania’s Sorana Cirstea during the 2026 Italian Open. Coco Gauff will compete…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[27],"class_list":{"0":"post-16891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rome","8":"tag-rome"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Coco](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275617800.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nThe two-time major champion addressed the extremely unique way tennis is scored after punching her ticket to the final. \u201cYeah, it is very brutal at times, and also favourable at times. I think the uniqueness about our sport is literally it\u2019s not over until it\u2019s over,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n