Coco Gauff combines individual and doubles titles at the Emilia-Romagna Open with Italian clay before the French Open

Coco Gauff added his trophy cabinet on Saturday when he defeated Wang Qiang at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma, Italy 6-1, 6-3. It was the first clay pitch of your young career and you won the second solo.

In addition to the individual championship, she also won another title this weekend, winning the doubles title with Caty McNally. The pair beat Adreja Klepac and Darija Jura 6-3, 6-2. Thanks to his achievement, Gauff has become the youngest player to complete a singles / doubles sweep since Maria Sharapova performed in England in 2004. As a reference, it was the year Gauff was born.

“I feel like I’ve been thinking all week [winning both], especially when you’re reaching and thinking about the semifinals, and how we’d like to win both individual and doubles titles. And I’m glad I was able to do it today, ”Gauff said.

Improving the clay has been pretty quick. The 17-year-old is just a week away from making the first clay semi-final of his career when he made it to the Italian Open. Next up is the grandfather of them all – in the clay fields – at the French Open, which starts on May 24th.

“It means a lot, especially to the clay, which makes me feel like a surface that connects me to people,” Gauff said, before adding to the laughter. For each AP: “It feels good. Now I like dirt. I always talk about it, how I don’t like it, but now I like it.”