Parma, 20 May – Cori Gauff was the star of the quarter-final day of the Emilia-Romagna Open, WTA 250 in Parma by MEF Tennis Events. The world number 30 player won the US derby against Amanda Anisimova with a clear 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 19 minutes of play. A sublime performance by the 17-year-old from Delray Beach, who recovered from a 0-3 deficit in the second set with class and determination, winning 6 consecutive games to close out the match.
Gauff’s revenge – At the end of the match, the talented American reflected: “I’m happy. After a very good first set I made a lot of mistakes and I risked to complicate the match, to recover I decided to try less to win and to play deep and I did it. All in all I think I could have served better, but I’m very satisfied with my performance. Cori Gauff takes her revenge for the 2017 US Open Junior final, when she was defeated 6-0 6-2 by 16-year-old Amanda Anisimova at the age of 13: “We’ve both grown and changed a lot since then. It was the first time we’ve played each other as professionals, so I’m happy to have taken my revenge.
Stephens, Siniakova and Wang in the semi-finals – Another American, Sloane Stephens, eliminated Italian Sara Errani 6-3 6-0: “I played really well. I’ve played against Sara before and I knew I had to be aggressive to make it difficult for her. I prepared the match well and I played my best. Physically I feel in good shape, I hope to continue like this. Katerina Siniakova beat Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 7-5 6-1 and Qiang Wang beat Petra Martic 7-6(4) 3-6 7-5 to close out the match.
Thursday 20 May results
Quarter-finals
Qiang Wang b. Petra Martic 7-6(4) 3-6 7-5
Cori Gauff b. Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-3
Sloane Stephens b. Sara Errani 6-3 6-0
Katerina Siniakova b. Caroline Garcia 7-5 6-1