CNN
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American tennis star Coco Gauff made a dominant exhibit on Monday to book her spot in the Italian Open Quarter Finals past Emma Laducanu.
The No. 4 seed lost just three games, beating his British opponent 6-1, 6-2 in Rome, requiring just 79 minutes to secure the victory.
When reaching the quarterfinals, the 21-year-old became the youngest player to reach four quarter finals in the WTA 1000 Clay Tournament since the introduction of top-level events in 2009.
Goff will face the seventh world in the final eight on Wednesday against Mira Andreva of the world in Wednesday’s Finals after the 18-year-old returns to defeat Clara Towson in three sets.
Gauff is in the French open, just around the corner, showing impressive shapes in the clay at the right time.
The Americans won eight of the last nine on the surface. Her only loss came in the Madrid final against world number one Alina Sabalenca.
Gough revealed he’s focused on footwork over the past two weeks to prepare for play at Roland Garros after his victory over Raducanu, highlighting a forehand that’s contradicted from the recent as a key factor in Monday’s victory.
“I think (that’s) the reason I won the game today,” Gouf told reporters. “I think I can do a lot with it, especially on this surface.”
Gouf had control over Radcanu in Campo Centrare from the beginning, but never left. She earned 39 of her 59 service points and broke Radkanu’s serve four times.
She admitted that it took her time to adapt to playing on another surface of Italy, but it feels good about where she is now.
“I still feel it’s very slow compared to Madrid,” Goff said. “But I’m used to each of the games. I’m really happy with how I played. I think I really dictate the games for the most part.”
Elsewhere, Sabalenka booked her spot in the quarterfinals in a tough challenge from Ukraine’s Malta Kostuk, winning 6-1, 7-6 (8) in 2 hours and 5 minutes.