Coco Gauff managed to keep her Italian Open hopes alive by claiming a dramatic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory against teenage sensation Iva Jovic in the R16. The World No. 4 had a poor start to the match and lost the opening set to the 20-year-old. She wasn’t able to find her rhythm in the second set either and faced a match point on her own serve as she was trailing 3-5, 30-40. But this is where Gauff showed her resilience and fought back like a Grand Slam champion. But she had a crucial break to thank for, as an abrupt halt turned the tide of the game.
Turns out that Jovic had taken a medical timeout for the treatment of the blister on her finger after Gauff made it 4-5 in the second set. The momentum shifted entirely in Gauff’s favor after the break. Gauff broke Jovic’s serve once again to make it 5-5 and went on to clinch the second set. Gauff would then go on to dominate the third set to win the grueling encounter in two hours and 45 minutes.
This victory made Gauff the youngest player with three consecutive Italian Open quarterfinal appearances. The record was previously held by Iga Swiatek, who had reached the quarterfinals in Rome from 2021 to 2023.
After the match, Gauff praised Jovic for her performance, pointing out how difficult the conditions were at the Foro Italico with the wind, airplanes, and even phones playing a part in affecting the players’ concentration.
“I think I’m just proud. Iva played really good tennis. The conditions today weren’t easy. We had wind. We had airplanes. We had phones ringing. Everything was going on. But I’m really happy. Thanks to my team for helping me. That pep talk definitely helped me mentally,” she said during her post-match interview.
The reaction says it all
Coco Gauff saved a match point to claim a comeback victory over Iva Jovic!
5-7, 7-5, 6-2
pic.twitter.com/I55OqFAIE3
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) May 11, 2026
This was the first time that Gauff and Jovic had faced each other on the WTA Tour. It was a match that could have gone anywhere, but the tide turned in Gauff’s favor after her opponent started facing physical issues. Jovic was evidently struggling with her grip by the third set, and this led to a host of unforced errors. Her opponent took full advantage of this and capitalized on the mistakes to clinch the third set comfortably.
Gauff will be taking on Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals. The latter has qualified for the stage after defeating Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3 in the R16. Though Gauff leads the H2H record by 4-0, Andreeva is arguably in better form.
Gauff also had a soft interaction with the crowd after her win against Jovic. She thanked them for their support and even gave a shout-out to local hero Jannik Sinner.
Coco Gauff hypes up Jannik Sinner following her match
With the World No. 1 scheduled to face Alexei Popyrin later on, Gauff asked the crowd to cheer as hard as they could for the Italian before hilariously requesting a few cheers for herself, too.
“I know you guys are ready for Jannik Sinner. Can we get some cheers for Jannik? Ok ok. Can I have like just a little cheer for me too?” she added.
This isn’t the first time that Gauff has shown support for Sinner. Following his triumph in Madrid last week, the latter had shared a story on Instagram and had captioned it as, “Thank you all.”
Gauff simply commented, “Incredible” on the story as she seemed to be thoroughly impressed with Sinner’s performance at the Spanish capital.
This isn’t all, as Sinner had come out in support of Gauff after the video of her smashing a racket backstage at the Australian Open had gone viral earlier this year. The Italian hadn’t made much of the incident and had said that it wasn’t any big deal. He had pointed out that Gauff gives her everything on the court, so her frustration was completely understandable.
“It can happen, no? We are athletes… we invest our whole lives to be the best version of ourselves. But sometimes losses hurt. I understand the frustration as a player. She gives everything on the court. She never says a word out of place… she’s a good girl,” he had said. It is safe to say that both Gauff and Sinner share a friendly but professional relationship within the circuit.
