Gauff’s victory comes just days after another major moment in Rome: the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope, who was chosen last week at the conclusion of the papal conclave. The event drew global attention to the Vatican — including from Gauff herself.

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

The world No. 1 was rusty on his first match back after three months away. His Italian Open draw means he cannot afford to be so for long.

Gauff opened the first set with a love service game and earned a crucial break in the eighth game, though Andreeva immediately responded

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has made peace with Jannik Sinner. The top-ranked tennis player visited the new pope on Wednesday, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner at the Italian Open.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner overcame a brief lapse during the first set of a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Dutch qualifier Jesper De Jong in his second match back on tour in front of his home crowd at the Italia

Zheng, meanwhile, remained unfazed by the drama and maintained her focus, edging closer to a potential breakthrough title.

Coco Gauff continued her mastery over Russian teen Mirra Andreeva and returned to the Italian Open semifinals with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory on Wednesday in Rome.

Plastic sheets cover the field during a thunderstorm prior to the start round of sixteen match between Jannik Sinner and Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome,

In the women's draw, Coco Gauff will be hoping to follow up her thumping win over Raducanu by beating Mirra Andreeva, while Aryna Sabalenka faces a similarly tricky test against Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.