All things considered, Zheng Qinwen arrived in Rome with a disappointing early season in her wake.<\/p>\n
After losing her first match in Madrid, the 22-year-old from China\u2019s record was hovering just over .500 and her game lacked the sparkle that brought her the Olympic gold medal in singles last summer.<\/p>\n
Zheng managed to win three straight matches at the Internazionali BNL d\u2019Italia, but a fourth, given the history, seemed unlikely. She faced World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals, a player she\u2019d lost to all six times they played. That, and Sabalenka was an ominous 6-0 against Top 10 players, while Zheng was 0-2.<\/p>\n
But on Wednesday Zheng summoned a slice of excellence, defeating Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3 — her best win of the year. Zheng has been a quarterfinalist in all three of her visits to Foro Italico, but this was the first time she advanced to the semifinals.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, evening she\u2019ll have the chance to avenge last year\u2019s loss to Coco Gauff. No. 6 Jasmine Paolini meets unseeded Peyton Stearns in the first semifinal.<\/p>\n
We make the case for the four semifinalists:<\/p>\n
No. 4 Coco Gauff vs. No. 8 Zheng Qinwen (8:30 p.m. local, 2:30 p.m. ET)<\/strong><\/p>\n Head-to-head: Gauff won both previous meetings against Zheng Qinwen (in Rome\u2019s quarterfinals last season and in the championship match at the WTA Finals in Riyadh last year).<\/p>\n The case for Gauff:\u00a0<\/strong>Only 17 months separate these two players, but when they met in the quarterfinals here a year ago, the younger Gauff was the more mature player, winning 7-6 (4), 6-1.<\/p>\n The way she\u2019s playing right now, she\u2019ll like her chances once again against Zheng.<\/p>\n Displaying uncommon poise on Wednesday, Gauff was a 6-4, 7-6 (5) quarterfinal winner over No. 7 Mirra Andreeva. She\u2019s won nine of her 10 matches on the red clay in Madrid and Rome.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really confident on clay,\u201d Gauff told reporters. \u201cI think it\u2019s a surface that works well for my game. I would love to get a big title on clay just because I do love it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m having a lot of confidence, but hoping to go even further.\u201d<\/p>\n How much does she like playing in Rome? She\u2019s the youngest player to reach her third semifinal here since Martina Hingis — more than a quarter century ago. She and Ekaterina Alexandrova lead all women with three Top 10 wins this season on clay.<\/p>\n That confident state of mind could be seen in her interaction with reporters. Before the second quarterfinal that would deliver her opponent, Gauff was asked if she had a preference.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously,\u201d she said, \u201cI would maybe like to play Aryna because I just played her in Madrid, just to get some revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019ll have to settle for Zheng. Gauff will be encouraged by that quarterfinal win last year in Rome.<\/p>\n The case for Zheng:<\/strong>\u00a0There\u2019s something about Italy. Two of her five titles came in Palermo the past two years, and she\u2019s already collected 10 wins in both Rome and Palermo.<\/p>\n \u00a0Zheng is a big-game player \u2026 that win over Sabalenka was reminiscent of her straight-sets victory over Iga Swiatek in the semifinals of the Olympics. She\u2019ll be looking forward to this match against Gauff, who will be ranked No. 2 in the PIF WTA Rankings come next week.<\/p>\n Hard to believe, but this is Zheng\u2019s first semifinal since last November at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.<\/p>\n Seventh time’s the charm! Zheng earns first win over Sabalenka<\/p>\n Against Sabalenka, Zheng landed only 54 percent of her first serves — but managed to win 28 of those 34 points. She backed it up with a solid second serve (15-for-29) and saved all five of Sabalenka\u2019s break-point opportunities.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth mentioning that all of her six previous losses to Sabalenka came on hard courts. The comfort of playing on clay could be a factor against Gauff, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess when I play on clay, I\u2019m more comfortable because I got great experience on clay,\u201d Zheng said afterward. \u201cDoing well tonight because [she was] more patient than her. I see today that when I make her play a lot. I\u2019m just happy with my performance and happy to make the step forward to beat the world No. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n The soon-to-be No. 2 awaits.<\/p>\n No. 6 Jasmine Paolini vs. Peyton Stearns (3 p.m. local, 9 a.m. ET)<\/strong><\/p>\n Head-to-head: 0-0.<\/p>\n The case for Paolini:\u00a0<\/strong>She\u2019s playing with the crackling energy of the homefield advantage.<\/p>\n Down a set and 4-0 to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals, Paolini — with the help of a roaring, adoring crowd at Foro Italico — came all the way back to produce a stunning 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory.<\/p>\n The 29-year-old Italian is into her first semifinal in Rome — and playing with house money. Not surprisingly, Paolini has had success playing in Italy. This is her fourth semifinal on home soil. Previously, she reached the final four in Courmayeur (2021) and Palermo (2022 and 2023), but never at the Internazionali BNL d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cPoint by point, point after point, I found a way — I fought until the end,\u201d Paolini said afterward. \u201cThe crowd, of course, helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019ll be behind her again in this one.\u00a0<\/p>\n Down 4-0 in that second set, the crowd began to get under Shnaider\u2019s skin. She started playing too fast, especially on her serve. After her team asked for more spin and shape on her shots, Paolini honed in, sending high, bouncing shots to Shnaider\u2019s backhand<\/p>\n That overwhelming support could mitigate the pressure Paolini will be feeling. She was a Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist one year ago, but she\u2019s looking to become only the third Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the Rome final after Raffaella Reggi (1985) and Sara Errani (2014).<\/p>\n Errani, her current doubles partner, has been a fixture in Paolini\u2019s team box. She\u2019ll be leading the cheering again on Thursday. On Friday, the No. 3 seeds in doubles play a semifinal match against Andreeva and Shnaider.<\/p>\n The case for Stearns:\u00a0<\/strong>When you\u2019ve won three consecutive third-set tiebreaks, how do you\u00a0not\u00a0feel invincible? Against great odds, that\u2019s exactly what Stearns has done here in Rome.<\/p>\n In the third round, Stearns beat Australian Open champion Madison Keys 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3), Naomi Osaka in the fourth, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) and in the quarterfinals, Elina Svitolina 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4). The quality of those players underlines the degree of difficulty in Stearns\u2019 achievement.<\/p>\n In the Open Era — which constitutes 57 years of play — no woman ever won three consecutive matches in a third-set tiebreak. The crazy thing? This is Stearns\u2019 first-ever appearance in Rome\u2019s main draw. She\u2019s the only unseeded player still alive, ranked No. 42.<\/p>\n The last time Stearns won five straight matches on clay, she took the title last year in Rabat, Morrocco — the only one so far in her career — and won a first-round match at Roland Garros.<\/p>\n She won\u2019t be intimidated by what promises to be a heavily pro-Paolini crowd.<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t expect many people to be cheering for me,\u201d Stearns said. \u201cBut that\u2019s OK, I played college tennis so \u2026 I\u2019m used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All things considered, Zheng Qinwen arrived in Rome with a disappointing early season in her wake. 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