By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Sunday, January 5, 2025
Photo credit: Andy Cheung/Getty
Coco Gauff took transition tennis to new heights Down Under.
Shifting from defense to offense superbly, Gauff grounded Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-4 staking the United States to a 1-0 lead over Poland in the United Cup Final in Sydney. Taylor Fritz fought off Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to seal Team USA’s 2-0 triumph and its second United Cup championship in the last three years.
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“I definitely think this is one of my best tennis performance, especially in today’s match, was a high-level match,” Gauff told the media in Sydney. “I think both of us were playing well.”
Continuing her late 2024 season-surge, Gauff earned United Cup MVP honors going undefeated for Team USA.
It’s Gauff’s second straight win over Swiatek following her 6-3, 6-4 sweep en route to the WTA Finals championship last November.
In Riyadh, Gauff conquered US Open finalist Jessica Pegula, No. 2 Swiatek, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen in succession.
In the past, Swiatek treated Gauff’s forehand as a pinata, pounding that weaker wing until it broke. That tactic helped Swiatek win 11 of her first 13 meetings vs. Gauff, including a stinging 6-1, 6-3 sweep in the 2022 Roland Garros final.
Working with coach Matt Daly, Gauff has modified her extreme western grip forehand a bit and is showing the skill to shorten up her expansive takeback on hard-hit balls. Gauff not only hung tough in forehand exchanges, she hit some fine forehand down the line strikes as approach shots, something she rarely did vs. Swiatek in years past.
So is this United Cup win a turning point in a rivalry that once looked as lopsided as Serena vs. Maria?
Has Gauff truly solved the Swiatek puzzle that plagued her for years?
Swiatek says not so fast.
The world No. 2, who played with taping wrapping her right thigh, said she was not 100 percent fit, but praised Gauff for playing “amazing” tennis.
“I’m for sure happy, because, you know, I played some heavy hitters as well this week and also some girls that played tough,” said Swiatek, who beat Katie Boulter, Karolina Muchova and former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina. “I was able to play against both really great tennis.
“For sure today I wasn’t able to give 100%. Coco also played amazing, you know, and she’s for sure improving. But overall I’m really happy with the week. I feel like things I worked on really improved. But on the other hand, like, you know, this week, Australian Open is a different story, so still I’m gonna do everything step by step and continue the work that I have been doing.”
One result yielded two slightly different perspectives.
World No. 3 Gauff believes if she can play this level of dynamic tennis, she can stop anyone in the world, including the two reigning Grand Slam champions ranked ahead of her.
I have the belief that I’m one of the best players in the world and when I play good tennis I’m hard to beat,” Gauff said. “Today I think I played some great tennis. I’m glad I was able to get a point for Team USA.”
