Coco Gauff Left Embarrassed After Comic Moment During Italian Open

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Vivek Devane | Last updated May 15, 2025 6:46 PM ET

In a semifinal clash at the Italian Open that had, until then, lacked spark despite the big names, a moment of unexpected comedy provided a much-needed light-hearted intermission.

Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen were locked in a tightly contested battle that had seen the American edge out the first set in a tiebreak and Zheng claw back the second 6-4. However, it was in the early stages of the third set that the match had its most memorable moment- not through a blazing winner or a marathon rally, but through unfiltered humor.

As Coco Gauff prepared to serve in her opening service game of the deciding set, Zheng broke her strings mid-rally and headed over to her bench to switch racquets. Gauff, entirely focused on her service routine, never noticed her opponent had left the court area.

With laser focus, she went through her motions and proceeded to serve- only to suddenly realize there was no one across the net ready to return.

What she found instead was Zheng, perplexed with a new racquet in hand, looking mildly amused at the whole situation. The moment sparked spontaneous laughter from the crowd, the chair umpire, and even Gauff herself, who was visibly embarrassed but joined in the fun with a smile and a shrug.

Coco Gauff hits a serve but doesn’t realize Qinwen Zheng wasn’t at the baseline

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— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 15, 2025

It was a rare moment of easing tensions in a match that had otherwise been more gritty than spectacular. The first two sets while competitive, had lacked the high-quality shot-making fans came to expect from such high-caliber players. However, this unscripted episode brought a human touch to the high-stakes match.

Closing in on midnight, the match was turning into a proper slugfest with neither player able to assert their dominance on the match. Zheng finally managed to break Coco and had the chance to serve it out.

However Gauff had other ideas and she pounced on the single break point opportunity to break the Chinese star, to get back on serve, and then go on to level it all up at 5-5 in the third.

They went on to hold their serves comfortably and took the set to the tiebreak. After exchanging early mini-breaks, Gauff managed to get the decisive one and closed out the tie break and the match 7-4 in the breaker. After over three and a half hours Gauff reached the finals of the Italian Open, where she will face home favorite Jasmine Paolini.