PARMA: American teenager Coco Gauff battled past Katerina Siniakova in three sets on Friday to set up a meeting with China’s Wang Qiang in the final of the Emilia-Romagna Open.

Third seed Gauff won through 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 against 68th-ranked Siniakova in just over two hours to reach the second final of her career after Linz which she won in 2019. Siniakova eliminated Serena Williams in the second round.

Wang, seeded sixth, came from 1-5 down in the second set and saved three set points against American Sloane Stephens for a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) win in 1hr 46min.

For 17-year-old Gauff and Wang, 29, it will be a first meeting and also a first final for both on clay a week before the French Open in Roland Garros.

Gauff reached a career-high world number 30 after her run to the semi-finals of the Italian Open in Rome last week where she was eliminated by eventual winner Iga Swiatek of Poland. She improved to 11-3 on clay this year.

Wang has hit form this week after a poor start to 2021, and is looking for her third WTA title, and first outside China, since late 2018.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2021