Jan 17, 2025; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Coco Gauff of United States of America celebrates during her match against Leylah Fernandez of Canada in the third round of the women's singles at the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

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Coco Gauff vs. Zheng Qinwen Head to Head Record, Prediction and Betting Odds for WTA Italian Open 2025 Semifinal

Winner faces Paolini or Stearns in the final!

After an unexpected victory over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals, Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen looks to slay another Grand Slam champion in the form of Coco Gauff on Thursday. The two stars will battle it out for a spot in the 2025 Internazionali BNL d’Italia final on super Saturday. Who will call the shots to confirm a match-up against either Jasmine Paolini or Peyton Stearns?

Coco Gauff vs Zheng Qinwen Preview

World No. 3 Coco Gauff kept her cool to defeat the prodigious Mirra Andreeva 6-4 7-6(5) in her Italian Open quarterfinal. The American improved to 11-1 against players younger than her, and currently holds an impeccable return game winning rate of nearly 50%. She reached her first final of the year in the recently concluded Mutua Madrid Open – losing to Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. The 2023 US Open champion beat Mboko, Linette, Raducanu and Andreeva en route to the semis.

2 – Qinwen Zheng has become the second Chinese player after Li Na (2011 & 2012) to reach the Women’s Singles semi-final at the Italian Open during the Open Era. Dream. #IBI25 | @InteBNLdItalia @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/6uuqMwLkt8
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) May 14, 2025

There is no doubt that 2025 has not been all hunky dory for Zheng Qinwen. She has a 6-2 record on clay this year, and managed to win three matches on the trot at the Italian capital. Just when everyone wrote her off, the 22-year-old showed why she is a Grand Slam runner-up – upsetting Sabalenka in straight sets. After making three straight quarterfinals in the American swing, Zheng finally managed to reach a semifinal. Her other victims this week have been Danilovic, Frech and Andreescu.

Coco Gauff vs Zheng Qinwen Head to Head Record

The head to head record between Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen is 2-0 in favour of the 21-year-old American. Thursday’s semifinal will be their second meeting on outdoor clay.

Gauff and Qinwen coincidentally bumped into each other at the Rome Masters one year ago. It was a tightly contested opening set, which Gauff managed to edge out. With the momentum on her side, she ran away with the second set as well as the match. In the latter half of 2024, the two young guns collided again at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The final – which many people declared as one of the matches of the year – was decided in a final set tiebreak which Gauff won convincingly.

Event	Round	Winner	Score
2024 WTA Finals	Final	Coco Gauff	3-6 6-4 7-6(2)
2024 Rome	Quarterfinal	Coco Gauff	7-6(4) 6-1

Coco Gauff vs Zheng Qinwen Career Comparison

Coco Gauff	Category	Zheng Qinwen
1	Grand Slams	0
9	WTA Singles Titles	5
9	WTA Doubles Titles	0
2	WTA-1000 Titles	0
R3 (Paris 2024)	Olympics Best Performance	Gold (Paris 2024)
No. 3	Current World Ranking	No. 8

Coco Gauff vs Zheng Qinwen Italian Open 2025 Prediction

Gauff has the experience of defeating Zheng in Rome. Moreover, the comparatively slower conditions of a night game will play into the hands of the American. She has better defensive capabilities and will look to replicate Sabalenka’s tactic of using cross court drop shots to keep Zheng on her toes. The Chinese powerhouse will need a flawless serving performance as well as some crucial forehands to overpower Gauff.

Prediction: Coco Gauff in straight sets.

Coco Gauff vs Zheng Qinwen Italian Open 2025 Betting Odds

Based on the money line probability, Qinwen starts with a 67% chance of beating Gauff for the very first time. However, the odds markets have fluctuated in favour of the American brave heart.

Coco Gauff Win: -180

Zheng Qinwen Win: +140

(According to BetMGM)

Aryna Sabalenka

Betting

Coco Gauff

Italian Open

Jasmine Paolini

Peyton Stearns

Tennis

WTA

Zheng Qinwen

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.