Coco Gauff defeated Sorana Cirstea in straight sets to reach her second consecutive final at the Italian Open.

Cirstea was out to cause another upset after already beating Aryna Sabalenka and Linda Noskova in Rome, but Gauff won 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 18 minutes. 

The third seed started on the back foot as Cirstea broke her serve in the opening game of the first set, though the American got the set back on serve by the eighth game.

Gauff then broke again in the 10th game to win the early advantage, before the pair traded blows to start the second.

There were then three consecutive breaks of serve later in the second, two of which went in favour of Gauff and set her on the way to victory.

And she held serve to clinch the win, doing so with her first match point, as she awaits either Iga Swiatek or Elina Svitolina in the final.

Data Debrief: Gauff does it the hard way

Since the introduction of the Tier I format in 1990, Gauff is the third American player to reach consecutive finals in Rome after Venus (1998-1999) and Serena (2013-2014) Williams.

Gauff also claimed her 34th win in clay WTA-1000 events, the most of any player before turning 23 since the format's introduction in 2009 surpassing Swiatek (33).

However, only Carla Suarez Navarro (2015) and Anhelina Kalinina (2023), both with 52, dropped more games than Gauff in 2026 (51) to reach the final at the Italian Open in the Open Era, something she will hope to improve in the showpiece.