Coco Gauff told the Italian Open crowd that they are welcome to boo her for a "controversial" opinion shared during her on-court interview. The American had defeated Mirra Andreeva 6-4, 7-6(5) to reach the semi-final, before she was asked for her stance on different types of pasta.

At the Rome venue, in a city famous for its food, Gauff was put on the spot and asked to clarify why she prefers Cacio e pepe over carbonara, comparing two different pasta meals from the region. The former dish is a simple cheese and pepper concoction, while carbonara typically features pancetta and a 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 OK."

Gauff had expected those at Centre Court to jeer in response, but they remained moot and only cheered in appreciation at the quality tennis she displayed against the Russian wonderkid.

She booked a place in the final four against either top seed Aryna Sabalenka or Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng, saving her best for a tense tiebreak against Andreeva, perhaps fully fueled by an early pasta lunch before taking to the clay.

Gauff has long said that her go-to meal before matches is Calcio e pepe or pesto pasta.

In 2024, she told WellAndGood: “I keep it pretty simple and go pretty light on the tomato sauce before matches. 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.

"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.”

Gauff has won nine of her last 10 matches and is in fine form ahead of the French Open, dispatching Emma Raducanu with ease in the previous round. She has also won all four matches against Andreeva.

"At the end it was tough, I think we were both tired in that tiebreaker," Gauff added. "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."