Coco Gauff vs. Sorana Cirstea

“It was a lot,” Gauff said after one of her wins earlier this week.

That’s a pretty fair description of her whole Rome experience so far. Last year’s runner-up has survived three three-set epics, against Solana Sierra, Iva Jovic, and Mirra Andreeva. In the first two, she came back from the brink of defeat; in the third, she held off a furious late run by her opponent. Through it all, Gauff has said that she’s been dealing with a personal issue that has made it much tougher than normal for her to “compartmentalize” her life.

Cirstea, by contrast, doesn’t seem to have a care in the world right now. The 36-year-old, who is retiring at the end of 2026, is 27-7 on the year, and has been enjoying a dream swansong run through Rome. She stunned the top seed, Aryna Sabalenka, in the third round, and followed that with straight-set wins over two more strong opponents, Linda Noskova and Jelena Ostapenko.

“I’m enjoying every single week,” Cirstea says of her last go-round on tour. “I’m coming from a place where I really have no pressure.”