At 20, Coco Gauff has achieved a considerable amount. She has established herself as a perennial top-five player, won a grand slam title, and lived up to the suffocating hype that followed her since her preteens. Still, it remains to be seen if she can solve one of the most lopsided match-ups between two top players the sport has seen – her 1-11 record against Iga Swiatek.
In her second match at the WTA Finals, Gauff took a significant step forward as she held her nerve to register her second win over Swiatek, the No 2 seed and defending champion. After bursting into the contest playing bold tennis, Gauff maintained her composure in the middle of a serving slump before closing out a 6-3, 6-4 win over her erratic opponent.
With another victory, Gauff advanced to 2-0 at the season-ending championship in Riyadh, putting herself in a strong position to reach the semi-finals. Swiatek’s loss means Aryna Sabalenka will finish the year as the WTA No 1 for the first time, breaking the Pole’s run of two years at the summit.
The sparse crowds in Riyadh have attracted significant attention and debate with Sunday’s matches witnessed by just a few hundred spectators. While King Saud University Indoor Arena was far from full on Tuesday, a healthier crowd was present. Swiatek received loud support from the beginning, but Gauff’s performance endeared her to the neutrals as the match went on.
Gauff started extremely sharply, serving well and using her forehand effectively. She put pressure on Swiatek with her own heavy spin while mixing up forehand slices to keep her guessing. Most of all, it was so difficult for the world No 2 to hit through Gauff’s incredible defence.
As the second set began, however, Gauff’s serve quickly began to fall apart. She struck three double faults in her opening service game before somehow holding. Then, in her second service game, she offered up three double faults in a row. Gauff soon resorted to rolling her first serve into the box.
The American’s issues on second serve date back to her early years on the tour, but until a few months ago seemed to be largely under control. However, her serve has spectacularly unravelled in recent months, with 19 double faults in her US Open fourth-round defeat by Emma Navarro. Last month Gauff struck 21 double faults against Sabalenka in Wuhan, also losing in three sets.
Serving struggles allowed Swiatek to twice lead by a break in set two, but even with her opponent suffering, the 23-year-old looked a shadow of herself. Her return of serve, normally the best in the world, was dire and her forehand collapsed in the second half of the match. At the end of a tense, disjointed second set, Gauff drew on her inner fire and grit to win three consecutive games from 3-4 down, closing out a tremendous win in straight sets.
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For Swiatek, the defeat places her at a fascinating point in her career. Despite her achievements over the past few years, winning five grand slam titles and compiling 125 weeks at No 1, she has struggled to produce her best tennis at the grand slam tournaments outside Roland Garros.
A disappointing quarter-final loss at the US Open against Jessica Pegula in September convinced her to split with Tomasz Wiktorowski, her coach of two years. She replaced him with her first non-Polish coach, Wim Fissette, who used to work with Naomi Osaka.
After two matches together, the pair have a lot of work to do. Swiatek will have another chance to find her feet when she faces Pegula on Thursday, but since both she and Barbora Krejcikova are tied at 1-1 in the Orange Group, her future in the tournament remains uncertain.
