Ageless Cirstea downs Ostapenko to reach Rome semis, Gauff awaits in final four

[p]The Romanian will face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]Coco Gauff[/a] in the last four, after the American ‌overcame Russian teenager [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andreeva-mirra/lI6fOOat/"]Mirra Andreeva[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/andreeva-m-lI6fOOat/gauff-c-f5BXmEH6/?mid=xhqAT0t4"]4-6, 6-2, 6-4[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cirstea-sorana/fBPsm3Iq/"]Cirstea[/a], who plans ‌to retire later this year, has already delivered the shock of the ‌tournament by stunning world number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] in Saturday's third ‌round.[/p][p]She now stands just one win away from breaking into the top 20 for the first time in her career, having previously reached a career-high ‌ranking of 21 in August 2013.[/p][p][b]"I always said ⁠there's no expiration date for ‌ambition and dreams,"[/b] said Cirstea, the 26th seed in Rome.[/p][p][b]"I think everyone can ​see that I absolutely love this sport. I have so much passion for it. For me to play here and ​be in the semi-finals in Rome is absolutely amazing.[/b][/p][p]"I'm so grateful to the sport. I'm just really, really enjoying my week in ⁠Rome so far."[/p][embed guid="4ebe7096-3b46-4cbf-8d78-0d2ca089c20e" url="https://x.com/WTA/status/2054181928824086981" social-type="twitter" /][p]Cirstea's remarkable ​claycourt form has seen her suffer only two defeats this season on the surface - against two-time major winner Gauff at the Madrid Open and Andreeva at the Linz Open.[/p][p]She was also forced to withdraw ‌from the Open de Rouen semi-finals due to a leg injury.[/p][h2]Gauff maintains perfect record against Andreeva[/h2][p]Gauff came from a set down for the third consecutive match in Rome, and maintains her perfect record against Andreeva with her fifth win in five meetings.[/p][p]After losing the opening set, Gauff raced into a 3-0 lead in the second, saved a break point at 3-1 up and broke to wrap up the set and force the decider, where the American held off a comeback charge from the ‌Russian.[/p][p]Gauff failed to serve out for the match at 5-1 up, and ​again at 5-3, before breaking Andreeva to seal the win.[/p][p][b]"I ‌had a big lead in the third set, and it got a little bit close," [/b]Gauff said.[/p][p][b]"She's a great player, she's capable of winning games, and I think I learned a little bit on how to try to close those out, but ⁠I'm glad I was able ⁠to win."[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="4e783d9e-50cd-4bee-824c-9e5992edf4ff" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="2a232f97-5d01-4c58-9e24-e9b1ae711240" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/wta-singles/rome/"]Follow the women's side of the Italian Open here.[/a][/b][/p]