Coco Gauff will pocket a huge amount of money from the Italian Open despite falling short in Saturday’s final. The young American was comfortably beaten by Jasmine Paolini, who had the unequivocal backing of the home fans in Rome. It was a surprisingly one-sided affair with Paolini winning in straight sets to become the first Italian champion in four decades.
She wrapped up victory in one hour and 29 minutes, having pulled through a nervy start to gain the upper hand. The result will see Paolini move up to fourth in the world rankings and secure a top-four seed for the French Open, which gets underway in just over a week. Gauff, meanwhile, will be left to lick her wounds and think about where she got it wrong.
It was not the victorious end that Gauff, who beat Emma Raducanu on her way to the final, would have been hoping for. However, the blow of defeat will be softened by the huge payout she is due to receive for finishing as the runner-up.
Gauff will take home £383,725 in prize money in addition to 650 ranking points, keeping her inside the world’s top three. Paolini, meanwhile, is due to receive nearly twice that amount with the champion earning a £737,139 cheque.
Raducanu is also set to pocket a decent chunk of money despite crashing out of the Italian Open in the fourth round. The young Brit is entitled to £55,542 for reaching that stage of the competition.
Gauff breezed past Raducanu when they met at the Foro Italico but the latter will have the opportunity to bounce back straight away in Strasbourg. She has been handed a wildcard and will face Daria Kasatkina in the opening round on Monday.
Raducanu admitted that she was beaten by the better player after losing to Gauff, saying: “I think the conditions were so different. It was really windy and so high bouncing, and I just found like every ball was out of my strike zone.
“I couldn’t really get a good hit and then it just kept getting higher and higher. It was really hard and Coco played a great match too, and found great shape, great width, great depth. She played really well.
“I do think I got outplayed today but I guess I have no shame in saying that and looking forward to working to try to get better.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk