Coco Gauff came through a battle with the player who has proved to be her nemesis.
For the third year in a row, the American took to the court at the season ending WTA Finals to face former World. No 1 Iga Swiatek – a woman with an 11-1 record against her.
However this time it was Gauff who shone, coming through a testing encounter to record a 6-3, 6-4 victory in their Orange Group match.
It was a significant win on several levels.
Firstly it means that with a game to spare she has reached the semifinals of the $15million end of season tournament in Saudi Arabia.
Second it halts a run of four successive defeats against the Pole, two of which came this year. In fact it represents just a second win against Swiatek for Gauff who beat the four-time major champion in the semifinal on her way to the title in Cincinnati last year.
Gauff showed flashes of brilliance to outlast her opponent in an enthralling battle, but both players struggled with their serves and made a number of unforced errors.
Swiatek was made to work hard in the early exchanges, with the Polish star saving three break points in her second service game, which lasted over 10 minutes.
Gauff continued to apply the pressure and broke soon after to take a 4-3 lead in the opening set.
The American then held her own serve and broke again to take the set 6-3 in 49 minutes.
At the start of the second, Gauff saved two break points – a position she found herself in due to three double faults – to keep momentum on side.
But frustration quickly got the better of her and another three disastrous double faults in succession in her next service game led to the 20-year-old smashing her racket on the court and handing her opponent a break.
Eventually Gauff got things back under control, holding her serve to love, before breaking one final time to take the set 6-4.
“If I stayed solid, I knew I had a chance to close out the match,” Gauff said after, admitting that the tennis was “sloppy” at times.
She added that she was happy with the resilience she showed to get over the line in a tough match.
Going into their match, Gauff had lost 11 of 12 matches against the five-time Grand Slam champion.
But much of their head-to-head record to date can be put down to age and experience.
The American is three years younger and when Swiatek was her age, like Gauff, she had only one major title to her name.
An impressive victory proves that Gauff is hitting form at the perfect time after a tough 2024 and she advances to the last four of the WTA Finals with a group game to spare.
The 20-year-old is looking to win the tournament for the first time in her career, having been knocked out in the semifinals in 2023.
She will face Barbora Krejcikova on Thursday, looking to wrap up first place in the group and a last four showdown with either Qinwen Zheng or Jasmine Paolini
