Coco Gauff won her opening match, 6-3, 6-4, in Rome.
Battling past her Czech opponent, Gauff defeated Tereza Valentova to book her spot in the third round.
Not for the first time this year, Gauff struggled on serve, delivering seven double faults in her opener.
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After the match, Gauff shared the change she plans to make ahead of her third-round clash with Solana Sierra.
Coco Gauff plans racket tension change after struggling with the conditions in Rome
During her post-match press conference, Gauff was asked how she thought she served against Valentova.
“I think it was okay,” she said.
“I think I need to lower my tension.
“I felt like I was having to try so hard to hit big serves.
Coco Gauff vs Tereza Valentova – Match stats
| Stats | Coco Gauff | Tereza Valentova |
| Aces | 0 | 0 |
| Double faults | 7 | 1 |
| 1st Serve % | 58% | 58% |
| Win % on 1st Serve | 60% | 43% |
| Win % on 2nd Serve | 56% | 33% |
| Break points | 6/9 | 4/10 |
| Points won | 75 | 58 |
“I thought my kick and my second serve was big.
“I missed some because she was pressuring my serve.
“I definitely think Madrid is how I would like to serve.
“I’m just trying to carry that over from Madrid to here, but it’s definitely different conditions.
“The altitude isn’t maybe helping me as much.”
Later, Gauff spoke to ‘Tennis Channel‘ about her performance and her game on clay.
“I mean, it was pretty good today, I think I was not completely happy in some moments with how I was going out there, but overall, I think I stepped up my game when it mattered, and I’m happy with just being able to close out that second set,” she said.
“I think I feel very comfortable moving on [clay], sliding, things like that. I like to do it.
“Last week I was feeling good on the court, then I got sick. I was able to fight through that, but feel it depleted a little bit.
“But I feel great now, I definitely think I was heading in the right direction, in Madrid.
“I think for me, it’s just trying to keep that serving momentum I had in Madrid.
“In my last match, I had 13 aces. I haven’t had that in a long time!
“So I think just trying to continue that momentum on the serve.”
Coco Gauff’s best acing performances (WTA Tour 2026)
- 1. 13 (Madrid Open 4R vs Linda Noskova)
- T-2. 6 (Miami Open QF vs Belinda Bencic)
- T-2. 6 (Miami Open 3R vs Alycia Parks)
- 4. 5 (Miami Open F vs Aryna Sabalenka)
- T-5. 4 (Dubai Tennis Championships 2R vs Anna Kalinskaya)
- T-5. 4 (Stuttgart Open QF vs Karolina Muchova)
Gauff played well in Madrid but fell ill and was visibly struggling on court during her third-round win over Sorana Cirstea.
The two-time Grand Slam champion has now explained why she didn’t retire from the match.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to pull out, because I don’t like to do that,” said Gauff.
“I was thinking about it, honestly, but I just did it in Indian Wells, and didn’t want it to be another tournament doing that, so I was just trying to finish it.
“I don’t know what happened, but one game turned into another, and I found myself past the finish line.
“It was an emotional match, though, because I never felt physically spent on the court; it’s not often I feel like that, but that was one of the moments where I felt like that, so it was a weird feeling for me.”
Gauff eventually lost in the fourth round of the Madrid Open, but will be hoping for a deeper run in Rome to finish up her Roland Garros preparations in style.
Coco Gauff ‘would like’ to reach a clay-court final before Roland Garros
“I feel like Roland Garros is a tournament I can usually do well, regardless of how the momentum is going into it, so I think I put less weight on these two tournaments [Madrid Open and Italian Open], honestly,” said Gauff.
“But it feels great to enter Roland Garros after making a final, so I would like to maybe do that again.
Coco Gauff’s 2025 clay-court season
- Madrid Open – Finalist
- Italian Open – Finalist
- French Open – Champion
“Otherwise, I find my groove this part of the swing, and hopefully in Paris, I can continue to show up for myself.”
The 22-year-old believes she is better prepared to defend a Grand Slam title this year than she was in New York two years ago.
“I learned from last time going into the US Open as defending champion, so I’m hoping this time I’m a little bit more chill, which I think I do, because your body experiences something before, it knows how to react, and you train your mind,” said Gauff.
Only time will tell if Gauff can defend her French Open title next month, but she has work to do before then.
First, Gauff will prepare to take on Argentina’s Sierra in the third round of the Italian Open on Saturday, May 9.
