Coco Gauff faces a monumental challenge against her nemesis, Iga Swiatek, in Tuesday's WTA Finals match as she attempts to overcome a daunting losing streak.
Although one place separates both women in the rankings, the Polish star has dominated this match-up, and she bids for a 12th victory in her second round-robin match in the Orange Group.
Match preview
Swiatek faced a serious challenge in her first match of the WTA Finals against Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday, with her five-match winning streak hanging in the balance.
The Pole lost the opening set and trailed by a double break in set two; however, she clinched the win after claiming 13 of the subsequent 17 games for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 success.
Despite her lofty standards, losing her first competitive match on the tour since late August would have been understandable for the out-of-sorts five-time Slam champion.
However, she found solutions to Krejcikova frankly outplaying her in the first half of a match that lasted two hours and 32 minutes by notching her sixth victory on the trot at the Finals.
That triumph boosts her prospects before playing one of her favourite opponents, with qualification for the semis all but assured with a win.
Gauff, 20, is a Slam champion and has made it to three consecutive WTA Finals; yet, getting the better of Swiatek remains problematic.
The American is 1-11 in her head-to-head with the world No. 2 and heads into their 13th match on the tour on a four-match losing run against the five-time majors winner.
Although she could take confidence from Krejcikova running Swiatek close and recently snapping a three-match losing streak against Jessica Pegula, Tuesday's opponent is a different kettle of fish.
An uphill battle awaits the in-form American No. 1, whose form entering the year-end tournament saw her surge to the title in Beijing and reach the semis in Wuhan before falling to eventual champion and current No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Arguably playing her best tennis since claiming last year's US Open, Gauff hopes that puts her in good stead to stun her bogey opponent in Riyadh.
Tournament so far
Iga Swiatek:
Round Robin: vs. Barbora Krejcikova 4–6 7–5 6–2
Coco Gauff:
Round Robin: vs. Jessica Pegula 6-3 6-2
Head To Head
Roland Garros (2024) - Semi-final: Swiatek 6-2 6-4
Italian Open (2024) - Semi-finals: Swiatek 6-4 6-3
WTA Finals (2023) - Round Robin: Swiatek 6-0 7-5
China Open (2023) - Semi-finals: Swiatek 6-2 6-3
Cincinnati Open (2023) - Semi-finals: Gauff 7-6[2] 3-6 6-4
French Open (2023) - Quarter-finals: Swiatek 6-4 6-2
Dubai Tennis Championships (2023) - Semi-finals: Swiatek 6-4 6-2
WTA Finals (2022) - Round Robin: Swiatek 6-3 6-0
San Diego Open (2022) - Quarter-finals: Swiatek 6-0 6-3
French Open (2022) - Final: Swiatek 6-1 6-3
Miami Open (2022) - Last 16: Swiatek 6-3 6-1
Italian Open (2021) - Semi-finals: Swiatek 7-6[3] 6-3
Not only has the 23-year-old dominated this match-up 11-1, but the Polish player has also barely surrendered a set to Gauff, winning 23 of 25 sets in previous encounters.
The American's only success was in Cincinnati last year in the North American hard-court swing before claiming the US Open title weeks later.
Gauff has a 10-1 record since her post-French Open slump, which ended with her title defence at Flushing Meadows; now, she hopes to maintain this excellent form by finally defeating Swiatek.
There have been coaching changes since their last meeting at Roland Garros, with Wim Fissette taking over from Tomasz Wiktorowski in the Pole's team, while Matt Daly has replaced Brad Gilbert on Gauff's side, and it will be interesting to see how those alterations affect both players' approaches.
We say: Swiatek to win in three sets
While we back Gauff to clinch a set against Swiatek (her third against the Polish player), betting against the WTA Finals defending champion in this match-up is ill-advised until the American player consistently outmanoeuvres the world No. 2.
Thus, we back Swiatek to claim a seventh consecutive victory at the Finals by beating her 20-year-old opponent.
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