Coco Gauff will lock horns with Jasmine Paolini tomorrow as the quarter-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix take centre stage in Stuttgart.
The American has hit a little bit of form as the clay-court season gets into full swing on the WTA circuit, and winning a couple of matches should do wonders for Gauff’s confidence.
It hasn’t been a year to remember so far for the one-time Grand Slam champion. She did reach the quarter-final of the Australian Open before losing to Paula Badosa, but other than that, there has been nothing of note.
Gauff has hailed the crowd in Stuttgart and she will now be hoping to put on a show when she faces the Italian player, Paolini, on the showpiece court tomorrow evening.
Photo by Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images
There is clearly a lot of mutual respect between the players ranked at number four and number five in the world, with the last eight clash looking set to be a hotly anticipated contest.
Gauff has admitted that she rated Paolini highly and has also spotted something that she’s been doing of late that she’s never really seen her do before out on the court.
She said: Yeah, I think she’s an incredible mover and she has a really good forehand. So I think those are things — we haven’t played recently on tour, but we do practice together, like she said.
“But, yeah, everybody knows about Jasmine and also the fight that she has in her. She never gives up. I have never seen her do that on the court. It’s going to be a tough one on Saturday, but I think that it’s going to be good preparation for Roland Garros for me.”
Paolini has retribution in her sights for 2025, after reaching her first two Grand Slam finals at the French Open and Wimbledon last year, without getting her hands on the big prizes.
Her rise up the rankings has been meteoric and ultimately, she is showing the level of tennis that suggests she can collect one of the game’s biggest prizes in the near future.
For now, her sights are on Gauff and ahead of their match tomorrow, she’s had some kind words for the American performer.
She said in her press conference: “Yeah, we know each other. I practice with her a lot in the last I think six months. She’s a really tough player. She can play really, really well.
“Her ball is so powerful, I think. I don’t know what to expect, but for sure, I need to try to be aggressive, to try to, you know, control the point.
“But it’s not going to be easy, because she’s serving good, moving good, and returning good. She’s basically a very complete player to me.
“So I have to play a good match to be in the match, to try to win some games, have to be focused, and I have to play aggressively and I have to be there every point.”
