COCO GAUFF defeated Jasmine Paolini in straight sets on Saturday to reach the Wuhan Open final for the first time in her career.
The American third seed overturned a poor 2025 record against Paolini with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Gauff will face either defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or sixth seed Jessica Pegula in the final.
“It was 3-0 this year but I think our head-to-head is even now,“ Gauff said of her record against the Italian.
“I’m really happy with how I played today, it was tough, especially playing on the serve, but I did what I needed to do to get through.”
The semi-final was dominated by breaks of serve, with 11 consecutive games going against the server.
Gauff finally held her own serve in the seventh game of the second set on her way to an 82-minute win.
The 21-year-old has now reached the fifth WTA 1000 final of her career and her third in 2025.
“I’ve played a couple of finals this year, so I have a lot of experience. But regardless of what happens tomorrow, I’m really happy with the effort I’ve put in this tournament.”
Paolini missed her chance to secure a place in next month’s WTA Finals in Riyadh with the loss.
She currently holds the eighth and final qualifying spot in the Race to the WTA Finals.
Paolini must now secure her qualification at one of the two remaining tournaments in Ningbo or Tokyo. – AFP
