Coco Gauff will fancy her chances of a deep run at the Australian Open, despite being one of the tournament’s more unpredictable assets.
After all, opinions on the world number three remain fiercely split.
For some, Coco Gauff should be considered a favourite to win the entire event, whilst others have tipped her for a shock early exit. Given her form over the last year, either seems completely possible.
What she will have upon her return to Melbourne is confidence, particularly after claiming another impressive win over Iga Swiatek in preparation for the Australian Open.
She has now spoken about her rivalry with the Polish superstar and how she has managed to turn their head-to-head around.
Coco Gauff discusses her rivalry with Iga Swiatek
As of June 2024, Gauff had just one career win against Swiatek, having lost 11 matches.
Now, it is the American in the ascendancy, having won four straight matches against her great rival over the last year or so.
How far do you think Coco Gauff will go with this draw?
Speaking about how she has meticulously managed to turn this head-to-head around, Gauff admitted: “Yeah, in the past, there were no head-to-heads I felt really bad about, except that one. In the past, I used to think about it so much, because you want to get the one win. I think once I got that, it kind of, like, I erased the other matches.
“Obviously she’s a great player, and she deserved those wins, but I felt like a lot of those — some of those losses. I won’t say a lot, because she just outplayed me, but some of them, at least at the beginning, it just was already on the mental deficit. I think once I erased that mental deficit, I was able to play free.
“Yeah, I think there was, like, no other head-to-head in tennis where I had that, so it was very difficult to navigate. Now I feel like I’m able to play free. Obviously, it’s still a big gap in the head-to-head. I just erase it from my mind. Can’t change the past, but I learned from it.
“I don’t know how it will end at the end of our careers, but at least I know in the future matches I won’t be starting like that with the mental deficit.”
Gauff also said what was going wrong with her serve in her recent first-round match, highlighting how that area of her game is far from fixed.
Coco Gauff narrowly misses out on Venus Williams clash
Ahead of the draw, fans were instantly drawn to Gauff’s area of the draw.
After all, if she and Venus Williams were to both win their first-round matches, they would set up a mouth-watering all-American affair, once again pitting the future against the legendary past.
The 21-year-old held up her end of the bargain with a routine win, and given that Williams boasted a 4-0 lead in the deciding third set, she seemed poised to do so as well.
What has been the biggest upset at the Australian Open so far?
Sadly, Olga Danilovic reeled off six straight games to silence the Australian Open crowd and dampen excitement around this touted round-two showdown.
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