PARMA:American Coco Gauff and China's Wang Qiang reached their maiden clay-court WTA final when they secured hard-fought wins against their respective opponents at the inaugural Emilia-Romagna Open on Friday.
World No. 30 Coco needed three sets to get past Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 in a high-quality encounter, while Wang, ranked 48th in the world, came from 1-5 down in the second set and saved three set points against American Sloane Stephens for a 6-2, 7-6(3) win.
Wang had previously struggled in 2021, compiling a 4-11 record before this week, but has now reached her first final since the 2018 WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, and her first outside China.
Saturday's final will be the first encounter between 17-year-old Coco and 29-year-old Wang.