Cincinnati 2023: Coco Gauff vs Jasmine Paolini preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick | Western & Southern Open
Match details
Fixture: (7) Coco Gauff vs (Q) Jasmine Paolini
Date: August 18, 2023
Tournament: Western & Southern Open 2023
Round: Quarterfinal
Venue: Cincinnati, US
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,788,468
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Coco Gauff vs Jasmine Paolini preview
World No. 7 Coco Gauff will take on qualifier Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Western & Southern Open on Friday.
Gauff moved past Mayar Sherif to reach the third round, where she faced Linda Noskova. The Czech youngster had knocked out Liudmila Samsonova and Petra Kvitova to reach this stage.
The first set was quite disappointing from both of them as they struggled to hold serve. There were nine breaks of serve in the 10 games that were played. Gauff managed to clinch the set by virtue of a hold of serve early on in the opener. The American cleaned up her act and dominated the second set to win 6-4, 6-0.
Paolini came through the qualifying rounds and defeated Marta Kostyuk and Cristina Bucsa to make it to the third round. The Italian then faced former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
After letting go of an early lead, Rybakina bagged four of the last five games to take the first set. Paolini secured an early break of serve in the second set and built up a 5-2 lead.
However, Rybakina was unable to continue after this point and chose to retire due to an injury. Paolini thus advanced to her maiden WTA 1000 quarterfinal with a scoreline of 4-6, 5-2, ret.
Coco Gauff vs Jasmine Paolini head-to-head
Gauff leads Paolini 1-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2021 Adelaide International in three sets.
Coco Gauff vs Jasmine Paolini odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Coco Gauff vs Jasmine Paolini prediction
After a rather shaky first set, Gauff played much better for the rest of the match to oust Noskova. She coughed up five double faults and managed to get 54% of first serves in play.
The teenager will still need to get her act together as a potential encounter with Iga Swiatek is on the horizon. Paolini got a lucky break with Rybakina's injury to notch up one of the best results of her career.
With just nine main draw wins at the WTA 1000 level, three of which were this week, Paolini enters this contest as an underdog. She also has a 2-10 record against top 10 opposition so far.
Despite some recent improvements to her game, most notably her forehand, Gauff still can be slightly inconsistent from match to match. While she usually manages to get the better of lower-ranked opponents, the Italian could prove to be a tough nut to crack.
Paolini can make things difficult for Gauff with her range of defense and variety. However, the American teenager should be able to figure out a solution to continue her journey in Cincinnati.
Pick: Coco Gauff to win in three sets.