Coco Gauff managed to get her first win against Iga Swiatek. At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, in one of the WTA 1000 that are hosted in the US, the American beat the world number one with the result of 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.And this could be one of the thousand battles that the two young tennis stars will have to face during their careers.Their rivalry may even be bigger than the ones the Pole has with Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka.
The young 19-year-old US has a great future ahead of her, and the four-year difference between the two isn’t that important. For example, it was not for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (same age difference – ed.).Swiatek and Gauff could create the WTA rivalry of the century.
Technique and tactics, but also mental, physical and media. There hasn’t been a major rivalry in women’s tennis since the 1990s. The advent of Serena Williams (and her sister Venus) started a monopoly, in which the other tennis players were supporting her, at least until Serena’s pregnancy.Now the WTA needs a new great rivalry, and who better than the young US heir to the Williams sisters and the current undisputed world no.1?
Coco talks about the rivalry with Iga
In the press conference after beating Iga Swiatek in the semifinals in Cincinnati, Gauff said: “Actually, I was just playing every point to the max.
I mean, I was just trying my best really on every point. I think serve was the most important key for me today. I wanted to try and make her feel like she can’t break me easily. So yeah, I think that was the main thing today.”For Gauff it is her first victory after seven defeats against the three-time champion of the Roland Garros.Now, it’s not 7-0 anymore, but 7-1: “It feels good to break that zero.
No offense to Gael, but I didn’t want that rivalry like between him and Djokovic. So I hope I can face it again and bring the my number up! But it feels really good. I think this victory gives me confidence: I mean, she is a four-time Grand Slam champion, the number one in the world.
I’m not sure if I’ll win against her every time, but I think this win proves to me that I have the ability to do it.”For Coco Gauff, this in Cincinnati is the first final in a WTA 1000 tournament and the opportunity to win the most important title of her career.
To do this, improvements are needed according to the home player.She told: “Honestly, watching the game today, there are so many things I can criticize. My team told me that I should only be proud of myself. I will try to do that, to just prepare for tomorrow like I did for the rest of the week.”
