Gauff, Alcaraz advance to Italian Open semifinals

ROME (AP) — Zheng Qinwen earned her first victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday to set up an Italian Open semifinal match against Coco Gauff.

The 22-year-old Zheng, the Olympic champion from China, had lost all six previous matches against Sabalenka. The eighth-ranked Zheng saved all five break points she faced and broke Sabalenka's serve three times to reach the last four.

Rome is the last big warmup before the French Open starts on May 25.

Alcaraz beats Draper

Carlos Alcaraz beat Jack Draper 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals. He saved six of the eight break points he faced.

The third-ranked Alcaraz, who withdrew from the Madrid tournament due to an upper right leg problem that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final, moved well on the court, often took to the net and used his trademark drop shots and groundstrokes to the best effect.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who also had a left leg injury, had lost to Draper in their most recent meeting in the semifinals at Indian Wells, California, in March.

Alcaraz rallied from 2-4 to claim the first set. A turning point then came in the eighth game of the second set, when Draped looked like he could force a decider. That game lasted almost 10 minutes and Alcaraz saved two break points before coming out on top. Alcaraz broke at love in the next game and sealed the match.

“The most important thing that I did today was not thinking about the shots at all,” Alcaraz said. “Not thinking about the fact that I was down, just trying to do the things that make me happy. On court I just tried to be aggressive, play good shots, drop shots, go to the net. That’s what I like to do on the court, and I think that made the difference today."

Alacaraz's next opponent will be either defending champion Alexander Zverev or Lorenzo Musetti.

Gauff in control

Gauff extended her unbeaten streak against Mirra Andreeva to also advance to the last four at the clay-court tournament. She played aggressively throughout in a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win.

Both players hit high-quality shots in the tiebreaker, including Andreeva's superb drop shot just behind the net from a tight angle that allowed her to level at 5-5 before Gauff won the last two points to seal the match.

Gauff has won all four of her matches against the 18-year-old Andreeva, having also beaten her at the French Open and U.S. Open in 2023, and two weeks ago in Madrid.

Jasmine Paolini and Peyton Stearns face off in the other semifinal.

Sinner meets the pope

Also Wednesday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner visited the new pope, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner. Leo XIV, the first American pope, is an avid tennis player.

The pope and Sinner posed for photos in front of the Davis Cup trophy that Sinner helped Italy win for the second consecutive time last year.

Sinner has a quarterfinal match Thursday in his first tournament back after a three-month ban for doping that was judged to be an accidental contamination. He will next face freshly-crowned Madrid champion Casper Ruud, who beat Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-4.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis