Italian Open 2026: Coco Gauff converts fifth match point to beat Mirra Andreeva and reach Rome semifinals

Five match points. Tennis superstar Coco Gauff needed all of them.

The American spent more than two hours on court Tuesday (12 May) at the Italian Open 2026 in Rome, twice failing to serve out the deciding set and letting four match points slip away before she found the one that stuck.

The No. 3 seed and third-ranked player globally defeated world No. 8 Mirra Andreeva 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals.

"Just trying to stay here mentally again, obviously I had a big lead in the third set and it got a little bit close," Gauff said afterwards of her performance. "She's a great player, she's capable of winning games. I think I learned a little bit on how to close those out. I'm glad I was able to win... I don't know how many match points it was."

The first set belonged to Andreeva.

Gauff held to open but was broken at 1-1, defending 15-40 twice before sending one into the net. She fought back to 3-3, then fell into 15-40 again.

Andreeva made her pay.

Serving for the set, the teen pulled Gauff to the net and lobbed over her head to reach 30-0, then closed it at love.

The second set was no contest. A cross-court backhand winner gave Gauff an early break, and she never looked back. Double-faults from Andreeva in the seventh game handed Gauff a second break, and the reigning French Open champion took the set 6-2.

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Gauff triumphs in epic third set

The third set was its own event.

Gauff was broken in the opening game. She broke back immediately. At 2-1, Gauff broke on her fourth break chance to go up 3-1.

The American looked like she was going to cruise to victory as she found a 5-1 lead.

But Gauff was broken as she tried to serve for the match.

Andreeva recovered to 5-2, then saved the first match point with a fierce forehand winner to hold at 5-3. Gauff was broken once more to bring the set back on serve at 5-4.

The last game was its own match. Andreeva, serving to stay in the tournament, lobbed over Gauff's head for 30-all and got to game point once, twice, then a third time. Each time Gauff refused.

Match points three and four both arrived and left before Gauff took the fifth.

Andreeva won a set against the American for the first time in nearly three years (since their first meeting at the 2023 French Open), but it wasn't enough. Gauff leads their head-to-head 5-0.

The American's semifinal opponent will be Sorana Cirstea.

"Sorana [Cirstea] is a tough player," Gauff said. "We played each other last tournament and it was three sets. So, it's going to be another tough match, but grateful to be into the semifinals."

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