Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz are both into the Italian Open quarter-finals.
The American booked her spot in the last eight by defeating Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-2, while the ATP Tour’s World number three overcame Karen Khachanov in three sets.
Both players are aiming to win the clay court event for the first time in their respective careers, with the French Open on the horizon.
But while Gauff and Alcaraz aim for success on court, they happen to share a similar point of view about their rivals.
Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty ImagesWhat did Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz agree on at the Italian Open?
Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz are arguably the biggest stars on their WTA and ATP Tours respectively.
They share five Grand Slams between them and each possess dynamic games and endearing personalities that the fans love.
During an interview on Tennis Channel, Gauff was asked about Alcaraz’s comments about wanting the best players on tour as it pushes him to lift his game, to which she agreed.
“It is super important. I can agree with that. But honestly, especially on the women’s side of the game, I feel like there is so much depth so it’s not only just maybe the top three players,” Gauff told Tennis Channel.
“It’s not like that. I feel like every match is someone pushing you to be better and when you are at the top, people tend to play better when they are playing against a higher ranked player. I was one of those players who did that.
“So for me having two or three rivals is important and it definitely pushes you to be better. But I think as a tour as a whole it pushes me to be better and there is never one match.
“I feel every match I am on edge no matter who I am playing. It’s great the women have so much depth and I feel like the men’s side is having that too.”
Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz aiming for success in Rome before the French Open
Gauff has reached the quarter-finals of the Italian Open for the third time.
In the process she became the youngest player to reach four quarter-finals at WTA 1000 clay tournaments since the format began in 2009.
Alcaraz is making just his second appearance at the Foro Italico, and he is on his best run at the tournament so far.
He has a chance to reach the quarter-finals but he has to defeat British number one Jack Draper, while Gauff must get past Mirra Andreeva to reach the last four for the second successive season.