Coco Gauff will face Elina Svitolina in the third round of the 2024 US Open, and this will be a very tough matchup for the American.
Before the US Open began, Andy Roddick sat down with noted tennis reporter Jon Wertheim to discuss the draw. He picked Svitolina to upset Gauff in the third round. The former ATP player explained this by pointing to each player's form.
Svitolina has played far better than last year's champion recently, but she also had some big problems whenever they played. Gauff's first two matches at the US Open were big wins, but they weren't impressive performances.
She had a slow start against Varvara Gracheva and didn't do much better against Tatjana Maria in the first set. In some ways, she even played worse against Maria in that first set before settling into a nice rhythm in the second set.
There are just too many question marks with the American player. She's not playing anywhere near as well as she did last year, and Svitolina is not a player she could easily beat.
The Ukrainian will give her a battle, and there is a decent chance she might even win. Svitolina has been really good in New York for years, and she has played at a high level as well.
Head-to-head:
The only problem for the Ukrainian is the matchup. Gauff is not a really great matchup for her because Svitolina doesn't have the power to really hit through her. The Ukrainian's game was always to keep pushing in the rallies, forcing an error from the opponent.
It can work against Gauff because her own baseline game has been inconsistent in the past weeks, but Svitolina has to put a bit of power into that. That's never been her game, which can be a problem.
Their first match was in 2021 at the Australian Open, and Svitolina won easily. Their second meeting happened earlier this year in Auckland, and Gauff won, even though she dropped a set.
This will be the first time they face each other in the Northern Hemisphere, and Svitolina is in far better form this time around.
That wasn't the case the last time they played because Gauff was in better form then. It's the opposite now, and that should give Svitolina a slight edge, even though she's widely considered an underdog in this match.
There are ways for Svitolina to win this match. Gauff has looked very shaky at times, and if she is put under enough pressure, she can start to doubt herself.
| Coco Gauff | Elina Svitolina | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | H2H | 1 |
| 3 | Rank | 28 |
| 20 | Age | 29 |
| 38-13 | 2024 W/L | 28-16 |
| 213-95 | Career W/L | 482-256 |
Prediction:
The question remains whether that will be enough. Gauff has struggled a lot whenever she faced stronger opposition in recent weeks. She's not looking as confident as last year, and she's not playing as well.
Despite how good she is, those things hugely matter and will likely power Svitolina to a victory.
Prediction: Elina Svitolina to win in two sets.
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