“I’m not going to dwell on this too long because I want to do well at US Open,” said Coco Gauff after her shocking first-round exit at Wimbledon. She claimed that this loss may not be the worst thing in the world, because she will still have time to reset. Following that campaign at SW19, Gauff returned to action at the Canadian Open. However, over there, she was defeated by the 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Moboko in the R16. From there, she went to Cincy in search of a winning streak before the US Open. But…

Before starting her campaign at the Cincinnati Open, the 2023 champion had said, “It feels like I’m pushing that nitro button and just leaving it all out there. You’re just on the court and you’re like, ‘I just want to give it literally everything’“. She started her campaign with an impressive 6-3,6-2 win against China’s Xinyu Wang, and received a walkover from Dayana Yastremska in the R32. Then again, in the R16, Gauff came back with a strong performance against Lucia Bronzetti. But her journey at the Cincinnati Open came to an unfortunate ending at the hands of Jasmine Paolini in the QF.

The Italian defeated her by 2-6,6-4,6-3 in this mega duel! Following yet another setback before the US Open, Coco Gauff shared a post on her IG account. In that post, she shared glimpses of her Cincinnati Open campaign with the caption, “in the rear view mirror… thank u @cincytennis.” 

This was Coco Gauff’s fifth meeting with Jasmine Paolini on the Tour, and with his win, the Italian has now got a lead of 3-2 in their H2H record. Paolini is now 3-0 against Gauff in 2025, and this was also her first win over the American on hard courts. What did she say after securing a spot in the SF of the Cincinnati Open for the first time in her career?

Jasmine Paolini shares her thoughts on the “tough” battle against Coco Gauff

After losing the first set by 2-6, everyone thought this would be pretty much a cakewalk for the world No. 2. But the Italian had other plans! Jasmine Paolini even had a nasty fall at the start of the third set. She rolled over her ankle while hitting a running forehand. However, a few minutes later, she shrugged off any lingering discomfort to quickly break Coco Gauff‘s serve. She steadied her ship when it mattered the most and won seven points in a row to reach her fifth SF of the season.

Following this 2-hour and 3-minute-long battle, Paolini said, “It was so tough. At the beginning, I was just running and trying to put the ball inside the court … but after a little bit, I started to feel better the ball. I stayed there every point, I tried to fight every point, and it worked.” She’ll now be facing the former world number one, Iga Swiatek, in the final.

Coco Gauff’s exit from the Cincinnati Open has opened doors for Iga Swiatek to pass the American in the rankings ahead of the US Open. But for that, the Pole needs to win the title. If Swiatek manages to beat Paolini, her points will go up to 7,933. Gauff will then drop to number three with 7,874 points.

American former pro, Chanda Rubin, has shared her concern surrounding Coco Gauff ahead of the US Open. During a recent conversation on Tennis Channel, Rubin raised a few questions, saying, “How is she feeling? Does she feel confident she can work through some tough matches in New York? Does she have enough matches behind her on the hard courts?”

So far, Coco Gauff has played around 48 matches this season and won 36 out of them. Her only title triumph came at the French Open. Can she secure her second one at the last major tournament of the 2025 season?