WTA 250 ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Elisabetta Cocciaretto stops in semifinals

Elisabetta Cocciaretto is stopped in the semifinals at the WTA tournament in S’Hertogenbosch, overcome in a comeback by the Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse with a score of 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the end of a long match conditioned by rain interruptions. After two hours and thirty minutes of play, Ruse won her sixth consecutive victory in the Dutch tournament, earning her a place in the final against Elise Mertens.

The Italian tennis player had started the match perfectly, dominating the first set with authority. On the strength of an excellent first serve percentage (71%) and points won with her serve (73%), Cocciaretto took full advantage of her opponent’s initial difficulties, imposing her own rhythm and closing the partial 6-2.

In the second set, however, the inertia of the match changed. Rain breaks broke the rhythm of the Marche player, who progressively lost incisiveness on serve: the percentage of first serves dropped to 50%, with 63% of points won on the first. The Romanian was able to take advantage of this, raising the level of her tennis and evening the set count.

In the third and decisive partial, Cocciaretto’s decline was even more evident: only 46% first serves and a 62% of points won on the first were not enough to stem the comeback of Ruse, who closed the match with a first-set winner, thus winning the right to challenge Mertens for the title.

Despite the defeat, for Cocciaretto the positive sign remains that she is back to winning three matches in a row in a WTA tournament, an event that has not happened to her since Roland Garros 2024. Now new opportunities open up for her on the grass of Nottingham and Eastbourne, before the big date at Wimbledon.