Coco Gauff Surprised Herself With Comeback Over Iva Jovic

Coco Gauff said she was already "in the locker room" mentally during the match point she saved.

Coco Gauff defeated Iva Jovic in the Italian Open. | IMAGO / Italy Photo Press

In one of the most highly anticipated matches of the Italian Open (Internazionali BNL d'Italia), Coco Gauff defeated Iva Jovic in three sets during their Round of 16 showdown: 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

On the brink of elimination, Gauff saved a match point in the second set and converted her third break-point opportunity in the tenth game. Following Jovic's medical timeout for a finger injury, Gauff won the next three games to take the second set 7-5 and force a decider. Gauff could not be stopped in the third set, completing the comeback victory in 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Saving the match point was the turning point in the match, but Gauff had almost given up at that point. She admitted in her post-match press conference to already hearing the criticism that would follow the match.

"I mean, honestly, on that match point, my head was almost like to the locker room to be honest," Gauff said with a laugh. "I was like, 'Well, I'm gonna hear a lot about this one.'"

Gauff added, "And then after, I kept, I don't know, I just was able to get through it, and then I think she maybe dropped a little bit her level, when she had the lead. So was able to help me, like, get back into the match. Honestly, I was thinking about my match in Dubai, and I like saved like five or six against (Elise) Metens. So I was like, maybe I can do it again today."

The importance of this clay court season campaign is not lost on Gauff. She lost points after failing to return to the Madrid Open final, and will need to make the Italian Open final to avoid losing more points. From there, Gauff must defend 2,000 points at Roland Garros as she looks to defend her title from the 2025 French Open.

Gauff is currently the WTA World No. 4 with a singles record of 22-8 with zero titles. She will face the eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva tomorrow, May 12. Andreeva has looked strong in Rome after losing a heartbreaking battle to Marta Kostyuk in the Madrid Open final last week.

The Italian Open runs through May 17. After that, clay court court season continues full steam ahead into the French Open later this month. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.