Swiatek reasserts authority over Coco Gauff with a dominant win to reach the final in Beijing

The Pole recorded a one-sided victory over Coco Gauff, winning 6-2, 6-3 in the first semi-final of the China Open. She’ll face Rybakina or Samsonova in the final

(Zuma/Panoramic)

Jamie Malachy

October 7, 2023

China Open •Semi-final • completed

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C. GauffvsI. Swiatek

Iga Swiatek swept aside the challenge of Coco Gauff, comprehensively beating the American 6-2, 6-3 to end Gauff’s 16-match winning run and advance to the final of the China Open at National Tennis Center in Beijing.

This was a hotly-anticipated encounter between the US Open champion and the World No 2, as the pair met for the first time since Gauff recorded her first win over the Pole in eight attempts en route to the Cincinnati title in August.

Having compiled a WTA season-best run of 16 straight match wins, encompassing a first Masters 1000 trophy and a maiden Grand Slam title, Coco Gauff’s ninth meeting with the four-time major champion was one of the standout match-ups of the draw in Beijing.

In truth, however, it turned out to be a one-sided affair that was more reminiscent of the pair’s first seven encounters – across which Gauff lost 14 straight sets – than a meeting between the second and third-ranked players in the world.

Dominant Swiatek stamps her authority early

The American started brightly enough, successfully fending off some early return pressure from Swiatek in her opening service game to hold.

But the Pole was in imperious form. Soaking up Gauff’s groundstrokes with superb defence, Swiatek invited errors from the American as Gauff was forced to play with less margin for error, while Swiatek’s variety, pace and line-to-line metronomic precision was simply too much for the US Open champion to handle.

Swiatek beats Gauff to move 8-1 up in their head-to-head

The World No 2 broke twice to charge into a 5-1 lead. While Gauff held serve to stay in contention, Swiatek then comfortably served out the set to take it 6-2.

Gauff looked perplexed as it became clear that she was not sure how to turn the match around. Broken in the opening game of the second, this encounter quickly had an air of inevitability, as Swiatek took total command of proceedings.

Things weren’t helped for the American when she had to receive a medical time-out for an apparent shoulder injury after the third game of the second stanza, an issue which she required recurrent treatment for at each change of ends.

Iga Swiatek was in no mood to drag the match out any longer, and broke Gauff to love at 5-3 – her fourth break of the match without reply – to seal a dominant win in just one hour and 19 minutes.

A superb run comes to an end for Coco Gauff

Swiatek outplayed Gauff in every statistical department, in a victory that looked every bit as one-sided on paper as it did on the match court. She took four of eight break points generated, while Gauff could not earn a single break point.

It was a disappointing day for the American, but one that should be viewed in the context of what she achieved over the summer.

Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek will share the stage many more times over the years

While her match-winning run is over, Gauff has backed up her maiden Grand Slam title with an impressive debut showing in Beijing. She navigated her way through four difficult matches – including an excellently executed win over Maria Sakkari – to reach the last four of the final 1000-level event of the season.

These two will no doubt have closer encounters in the future, as this rivalry looks set to be one of the most prominent on the WTA tour for years to come.

Iga Swiatek back in free-flowing, imperious form

For now, however, the Pole has reasserted full authority over Coco Gauff, extending her lead in their head-to-head to 8-1 and rectifying her loss to the American in Cincinnati.

“I’m really happy with my performance. It feels like I can play freely again, so I’m really happy,” Swiatek said in her post-match on-court interview.

“It’s been a while since I felt that way, so I’ll remember for the rest of my career that even though tougher times may come, you can always overcome that.”

The World No 2 will play the winner of the other semi-final between Elena Rybakina and Liudmila Samsonova in Sunday’s final.

It will be Swiatek’s final chance of the season to land a 1000-level title in 2023, having lost in the finals of Madrid and Dubai earlier in the year.

Her last title at this level came at the Italian Open in 2022.

Based on her performance against Coco Gauff, however, Iga Swiatek will take some stopping in Beijing.