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Iga Swiatek ended Coco Gauff’s dominance on tour by getting the better of the American at the 2023 China Open.
Thanks to her titles at the Cincinnati Open and the US Open, followed by four wins at the ongoing WTA 1000 China Open, Coco Gauff was on a 16-match winning streak, the longest by a WTA player in 2023.
On Saturday, October 7, however, her nemesis Iga Swiatek spoiled the party by knocking her out of the competition in the semifinal in Beijing.
Swiatek started off strong, breaking Gauff in the third game of the first set. She then secured an insurance break in the fifth game. The four-time Grand Slam champion sealed the opener on her serve by successfully converting her second set point.
Coco Gauff looked out of sorts as she produced errors, especially on her forehand side. However, it was also Iga Swiatek’s aggressive display that forced errors out of the American and led to her undoing.
The World No. 2 then broke the World No. 3 in the first game of the second set and set the tone for the remainder of the encounter. Coco Gauff, who called for a medical timeout as a last-ditch effort, was ultimately unable to recover the deficit.
The US Open champion served to stay in the match at 3-5, but was unsuccessful in her attempt and was broken to nil.
Iga Swiatek thus avenged her Cincinnati Open semifinal defeat and booked her spot in the China Open final after one hour and 19 minutes of play, with the scoreline reading 6-2, 6-3.
This is the 22-year-old’s eighth win over Coco Gauff in nine matches contested.
Iga Swiatek fancies her maiden WTA 1000 title of 2023 after China Open semifinal win over Coco Gauff
Iga Swiatek is through to the final of the China Open in Beijing with victories over Sara Sorribes Tormo, Varvara Grancheva, Magda Linette, Caroline Garcia and Coco Gauff.
Swiatek is vying for her fifth title of the season and her maiden trophy in the WTA 1000 category this year. She previously reached two other finals in the category, at the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Madrid Open. The Pole, however, ended up on the losing side on both occasions, falling short to Barbora Krejcikova and Aryna Sabalenka, respectively.
The World No. 2 has also made the semifinals of the WTA 1000s in Indian Wells, Montreal and Cincinnati, and the quarterfinal in Rome.
Having lost her top ranking at the US Open, Iga Swiatek is looking to narrow the gap between her and World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who crashed out of the China Open in the quarterfinals against rival Elena Rybakina.
She will now face the winner of Rybakina and Liudmila Samsonova in the final on Sunday.
