Gauff on her chances against dominant Swiatek: “Potapova isn’t me; I’m not Vondrousova”

The odds are certainly stacked against Coco Gauff heading into her Roland-Garros semi-final match against Iga Swiatek on Thursday.

Swiatek and Gauff have faced each other 11 times; Swiatek is dominating the head-to-head series 10-1. They also squared off in each of the previous two editions of this clay-court Grand Slam, with the Pole prevailing 6-1, 6-3 in the 2022 final and 6-4, 6-2 in the 2023 quarters.

Moreover, Swiatek has been absolutely on fire since enduring a second-round scare against Naomi Osaka (the world No 1 saved a match point before winning a three-set thriller). She has won her last three matches 6-4, 6-2 (over Marie Bouzkova), 6-0, 6-0 (over Anastasia Potapova) and 6-0, 6-2 (over Marketa Vondrousova).

I have nothing to lose. all the pressure is on her.

Coco Gauff

Nonetheless, Gauff is undaunted by the prospect of another matchup with her nemesis.

“She’s obviously No 1 in the world, and she won this tournament three times already,” the American said after beating Ons Jabeur in three sets on Tuesday afternoon. “I think for me, I’m just going in with confidence.

“When I played her in Cincinnati, I didn’t go into the match thinking, ‘oh, I’ve never beaten her before, never taken a set off of her.’ So I can’t think of past players. Potapova isn’t me; I’m not Vondrousova. It doesn’t mean anything. Maybe I could lose with the same score, maybe not, but I’m just going to go in and just try to win.

“I have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on her, so yeah.”

Unfortunately for Gauff, Swiatek has been the favorite in all 11 of their matches and has emerged victorious 10 times — with the only exception being a loss at the 2023 Cincinnati event (7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4). They most recently met a couple weeks ago in Rome, where the top seed cruised 6-4, 6-3.

“I definitely think I have to find a better way to play her than the last times I played on clay, because I’ve obviously been unsuccessful thelast couple of times we’ve played — regardless of the surface and anything.

“She’s definitely a tough opponent for me and for anybody. Yeah, I think for me I just have to go back and watch and try to find what I have to do. I think she’s playing great tennis here, so it’s going to be a challenge, but I’m going to go into the match with a lot of belief that I can (win). I’m going to try to get, you know, a plan from my team and then also my own plan and see where we can find a blend.”

HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENTS FOR GAUFF BY REACHING SEMI-FINALS

Gauff has become only the third American woman in the Open Era to reach multiple singles semi-finals at Roland-Garros before the age of 21 (also Chris Evert and Andrea Jaeger).

The 20-year-old is only the second woman since 2000 to claim 20+ singles match wins at Roland-Garros before turning 21 — along with her next opponent, Swiatek (21)

Finally, at 20 years and 82 days old, Gauff is the youngest woman to reach three or more consecutive singles semi-finals at Grand Slams since Maria Sharapova (four between Wimbledon 2006 and Roland-Garros 2007).

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