Coco Gauff was so confident in her opinion, so much so that she was more than ready for the crowd to boo her.
The American had just beaten Mirra Andreeva 6-4, 7-6 (6-5) to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open before she shocked the crowd with her stance on pasta.
Gauff was not interested in what the crowd thought about her choice@SkySportsTennisThe Italian Open is held in Rome, a city globally known for its incredible food.
So it’s no surprise that after a win, Gauff was asked a light-hearted question about her favorite pasta and why she prefers Cacio e pepe over carbonara, two types of the dish.
Cacio e pepe is a cheese and pepper type of pasta, while carbonara is a dish that features pancetta and a thick cheese sauce.
“I just think Calcio e pepe is better,” a slightly bemused Gauff replied. “And I don’t know if that is controversial here, I just like that better. But carbonara is still good, I just think Calcio e pepe is great.
“If you had to choose between one I would choose Calcio e pepe, I don’t know if you guys (crowd) agree, if you don’t, you can boo me – it’s okay.”
When the World No.3 was ready to welcome the jeers, the crowd didn’t react and instead cheered her.
It’s not the first time Gauff has spoken about pasta in relation to her tennis.
In 2024, she told WellAndGood that her go-to meal before matches is Calcio e pep or pesta pasta.
“I keep it pretty simple and go pretty light on the tomato sauce before matches,” Gauff said.
“I would say normally I’m more of a spaghetti girl, but pre-match, I go with penne because it’s just the easiest for me to not spill sauce on me.
It’s a second straight semi-final on clay for GauffGETTY Gauff beat Andreeva in the quarter-finalsGETTY“Sometimes, I have to eat really fast depending on the match and how fast the match before me is going… I can just pick it up with the fork and not have to twirl or anything.”
Whatever she ate before her match against Andreeva on Wednesday certainly fuelled her, as she put up a classic to overcome the Russian.
She will play either Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka or Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng in the semi-finals.
Gauff has also now won nine of her last ten matches as she enjoys her best tennis of the year ahead of the French Open.
In the last round, she easily beat Emma Raducanu and has now won all four matches against Andreeva.
“At the end it was tough, I think we were both tired in that tiebreaker,” Gauff said.
“It was whoever could make one more ball on the court. [I had] a lot of confidence heading in and I think today, some of my points wasn’t my best, but I still managed to be successful.”
The clay courts seem to bring out the Gauff, and it comes as no shock, since it’s a surface she has admitted to being extremely comfortable on.
“When I was younger, I always thought my best surface was hard, and then I got on tour, and I thought my best surface was on clay, and then the US Open, and I was like maybe it is hard!” Gauff told Tennis Channel.
“But I don’t know, there’s something about clay that I have always felt comfortable on. I feel like this year, more than ever, I am moving the best that I have, especially so early in the clay season.”
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