Coco Gauff serves to empty court at Italian Open with opponent absent

served to an empty court at one stage during her Italian Open semi-final showdown with Qinwen Zheng after her opponent had left her position to change her racket. The match proved to be a scintillating affair, with Gauff coming out on top after a tiebreak in the deciding set.

Gauff has enjoyed a strong run in Rome, despite being forced to overcome a one-set deficit during her opening clash with Victoria Mboko. The talented star eased past Magda Linette, Emma Raducanu and Mirra Andreeva to set up an encounter with Zheng. And she held her nerve after being pushed all the way in the last-four epic.

Gauff and Zheng were evenly matched for the majority of their clash, with the American clinching the first set on a tiebreak. Zheng won the second 6-4 but was broken in the opening game of the decider as the gained the momentum once again.

Gauff took a 30-0 lead in her opening service game of the third set but then failed to spot that Zheng had left the court to return to her chair and grab a new racket.

The 21-year-old therefore launched a huge serve over the net despite the fact there was no one to return it. She covered her face in embarrassment when she discovered Zheng wasn't in position, with the Chinese ace looking on in bewilderment.

The humorous incident was quickly forgotten, however, as Gauff went on to see out the match despite a late rally from her opponent.

Gauff, who will be eyeing up the title at the French Open next month, will face Jasmine Paolini in Saturday's final after becoming the first American to reach the Italian Open showpiece match since 2016.

The superstar has enjoyed a strong clay court season and progressed to the final of the Madrid Open earlier this month before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

And following her victory over Zheng, she explained: "I was just trying to go for every point. I knew before it was going to be a physical match.

"Last time we played was over three hours. Overall I'm just happy. It wasn't my best level at all, to be honest. Just happy to get through it and through to another final."

Gauff's decent form means she will be hopeful of landing the second Grand Slam trophy of her career this year following her Flushing Meadows triumph over Sabalenka 20 months ago.

The star is a former French Open finalist and could see the Roland Garros title as her most likely Grand Slam victory, having progressed to at least the quarter-finals in Paris in each of the last four seasons.