Coco Gauff is returning to her Cincinnati Open approach ahead of her match against Iga Swiatek at the 2024 Roland Garros, because that's the only place where she bested the Polish player.
The two players have faced each other 11 times in WTA Tour-level matches so far, with the Polish player winning 10 of those. The tenth win came not too long ago in Rome, and it was just one of many lopsided wins for Swiatek.
Gauff has a Swiatek problem, and solving it will be very tough, considering how well the Polish player has played so far this year. The American has also been pretty solid, but given how things have gone in the past, she will be entering their semi-final match as an underdog.
Speaking ahead of the match, Gauff admitted that she would approach it the same way she approached their match in Cincinnati, and that does not ignore what happened in the past.
"I'm just going in it 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'."
The approach has some merit because, given how the world no. 1 has played, it will be difficult to consider Gauff a favorite. Swiatek has been so dominant that backing anything but her winning the tournament makes no sense, and that's why all the pressure will be on her.
She's also the defending champion, which adds more pressure as well, and Gauff isn't really bothered by the fact that the top seed managed to beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0, or the fact that she outplayed reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2.
"I can't think about past players, you know, Potapova isn’t me, I’m not Vondrousova, maybe I could lose with the same score, maybe not. I'm just gonna go in and just try to win. I've nothing to lose, all the pressure's on her."
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