WTA 1000 Wuhan: Gauff Tames Paolini for the First Time This Year and Advances to the Final

After losing her title in the semifinals last week in Beijing, Coco Gauff has reached the final of the WTA 1000 in Wuhan.

The semifinal lineup was enticing in the WTA 1000 Wuhan tournament. The last four players in contention are all in the top 10, and the first match of the day pitted Coco Gauff against Jasmine Paolini.

The two women have faced each other three times this year, with the Italian winning all three matches. The world number 3 wanted to set the record straight and get revenge on Paolini, who had dominated her in the final of the WTA 1000 in Rome this spring.

In a match marked by numerous breaks (seven for Gauff, five for Paolini), it was the American who proved to be the strongest. While both players were imperial on return in a match where eleven consecutive breaks occurred between the end of the first set and the beginning of the second, the 21-year-old managed to take control in the second set.

Trailing 3-2 with a break against her, she won the last four games of the match to secure a spot in the final (6-4, 6-3 in 1 hour and 22 minutes). This victory allows Gauff to level the head-to-head record with Paolini at 3-3 and qualify for her fifth WTA 1000 final, her third of the season after the ones she lost in Madrid and Rome.

This Sunday, she will aim for her third title in this tournament category against the winner of the other semifinal, which features the defending champion and world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka against Jessica Pegula.