Coco Gauff might be the future of American tennis, but she has yet to find a recipe for beating the WTA World No. 1 player, Iga Swiatek.
Last year, the two talented players met in the semi-finals in Rome before the young Pole defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in the final. This year, they met twice before their meeting at the 2022 San Diego Open.
Gauff never managed to win more than four games against the Pole. First, Swiatek triumphed in Miami 6-3, 6-1 and then she won also in the Roland Garros final, 6-1, 6-3.
In San Diego, the 18-year-old American was looking for revenge and finally wanted to at least win a set against her three years older Polish opponent. But that didn't happen as Swiatek put up the best performance so far, allowing Gauff to win only three games.
The most dominant player of the 2022 season flew into the match with a quick break and added a few more as she won the first eight games to get a 6-0, 2-0 lead.
Despite improving in the second set, Gauff couldn't recover after losing so many games in a row, and in the ninth game of the second set, Swiatek added the last break of the match to win 6-0, 6-3 in an hour and 6 minutes.
Overall, the young Pole defeated her American opponent already for the fourth time, and she now leads the rivalry 8-0 in sets. Up next, Swiatek will play against Jessica Pegula, and she feels ready for the match.
"Jessie is one of the most solid players on tour so it's always hard. Our matches are always physical and really tight. Even though sometimes the scores are one way, you can see during the games we always have deuces and any point can matter."
"I'm pretty happy that we're going to play against each other because it's a test for me of where my level is because she's really, really solid."