Coco Gauff defeated Tereza Valentova, 6-3, 6-4, in the second round of the Italian Open.
The American wasn’t at her best, and Gauff was criticised for her reaction to a double fault during the first set.
But Gauff recovered to book her place in the third round.
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After the match, Gauff shared the Rafael Nadal quote she lives by.
Coco Gauff says she lives by Rafael Nadal’s ‘what happened in Madrid’ quote
During her post-match interview, Gauff was asked if she was looking to build momentum in Rome ahead of Roland Garros.
“Obviously it would be great to have a deep run, to have some momentum before Roland Garros,” she said.
“But every tournament is new, and you know the Rafa [Nadal] quote, what happened in Madrid, happened in Madrid, and we are in Rome, and then we will be in Paris.
“I think I live by that quote, because you can have an alright season, tennis is funny, all it takes is one good week and your season can go from bad to good.”
In 2019, Nadal lost in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, and Madrid Open.
Many questioned Nadal’s form, prompting him to deliver one of the sport’s most legendary quotes.
“What happened in Monte Carlo happened, what happened in Barcelona happened, and what happened in Madrid happened, and here we are. We are in Rome,” said Nadal.
Nadal didn’t lose another match on clay in 2019, winning the Italian Open and French Open.
Can Gauff emulate that success in 2026?
Only time will tell.
Liam Broady wasn’t surprised by Coco Gauff’s performance in Rome opener
During Sky Sports’ post-match coverage, British tennis star Liam Broady delivered his verdict on Gauff’s performance.
“It’s something that Coco Gauff does often. She can start off tournaments pretty rusty, but as she gets going and builds momentum and grows into tournaments, she can be very dangerous to stop,” he said.
“She’ll be breathing a sigh of relief tonight, that could have got very sticky at times.
“[Tereza] Valentova, as we know, is a very talented tennis player. I think she’ll be a little bit disappointed that she didn’t do a bit better in that second set and take advantage of Coco.
“But you can see how relieved Gauff is there; she lives to fight another day.”
Gauff admitted she was relieved during her post-match interview.
“I had a couple of game points, and I just didn’t really take them,” she said.
“I was giving myself a lot of opportunities, but it was tough.
“In the first set, there were a lot of errors in the beginning, both of us didn’t have much of a rhythm, then she raised her level.
“I had a lot of opportunities, but I’m glad to get through today.”
Gauff will now prepare to play either Solana Sierra or Anhelina Kalinina in the third round.
She leads both head-to-heads and will be a heavy favourite to advance to the last 16.
- Coco Gauff (1-0) Solana Sierra
- Coco Gauff (1-0) Anhelina Kalinina
It’s there that she could face a real test against China’s Qinwen Zheng.
Since returning from injury in February, Zheng has only lost to three players: Antonia Ruzic, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina.
Gauff will need to play a lot better than she did against Valentova if she is to beat the Chinese star in a potential fourth-round match.
She won’t want to worry about the fourth round just yet, though, as she has a job to do against Sierra or Kalinina.
Gauff will play her third-round match on Saturday, May 9.
