The 2024 French Open has entered its business end. With only a few players left in the contention, all eyes are shifting to the likes of Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic, the top players in the women’s and men’s circuits, respectively. The Serbian is now unfortunately out but Swiatek, in particular, has had a dominating run in the tournament and looks well-poised to win a hat trick of titles here. However, in her path stands Coco Gauff, one of her biggest rivals on the tour.

Gauff and Swiatek will square off in a thrilling French Open semifinal match. The two have played against each other twice at Roland Garros, with the Pole winning both matches comfortably in straight sets. As a result, she is unconcerned with the amount of challenge that Gauff can mount in their upcoming clash.

During an interview here, Swiatek was asked what was her mindset going into her match against Gauff. The World Number 1 replied, “Honestly the same as before any match. You don’t wanna change your routines.”

The reigning French Open champion added, “It’s good to keep going and not think of this match as something huge. Against Coco it isn’t easy. She really likes clay, especially here. I’ll just focus on myself and I’ll prepare tactically and we’ll see.”

Overall in their head-to-head encounters, Gauff has won just 1 match out of the 11 played against Swiatek. The Polish sensation is impressed with the American, “I think her mental game is a little bit better. Before it was, you know, kind of easier to ‘crack her’, I would say, when you were leading.”

But it would be difficult to forget that in the fourth round, Swiatek took hust 40 minutes to dispatch Anastasia Potapova. Does that scare Gauff? Despite her poor record against the World Number 1, Gauff is confident about turning the tables this time around.

Coco Gauff highlights her improvement going into the match against Iga Swiatek

While Swiatek had an easy sailing in her quarterfinal match, Gauff had to dig deep against Ons Jabeur, winning her match in three sets. Gauff put on a gritty display to cross the finishing line and was buoyed to get there. As a result, her confidence is sky-high ahead of her clash against Swiatek.

It resonated in her reply when asked what she thought about facing Swiatek next. Gauff revealed, “I can’t tell you. She is a tough opponent to play, especially on clay. There’s a reason why she’s #1. But I feel like I’m getting better with each match. I’m really excited to play the semifinal.” 

But even after Swiatek’s monster fourth round win, the 20year-old American isn’t fazed. “Potapova isn’t me. I’m not Vondrousova. It doesn’t mean anything. Maybe I could lose with the same score, maybe not, but I’m going to go in and just try to win. I have nothing to lose, all the pressure is on her.” Because Swiatek has to defend the 2023 crown.

While the odds stack up against Gauff, she would have to chalk up a strategy to stop a rampant Swiatek. For neutral fans, it will definitely be one of the matches to watch out for in this tournament.