By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday October 13, 2022
Coco Gauff battle from a break down to set a rematch of the Roland-Garros final with Iga Swiatek on Friday in San Diego.
Photo Source: Getty
Coco Gauff’s warrior spirit shone through on Thursday in San Diego as the 18-year-old American rallied from a break down in the third set to hold off an inspired effort from 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
Gauff notched the 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 triumph in two hours and 30 minutes to book a quarterfinal clash with top-seeded World No.1 Iga Swiatek.
The American, ranked eighth and seeded six, improves to 36-17 on the year with her win over the 57th-ranked Canadian.
“I think today was just a tight match – I think every game mattered,” Gauff said of her victory. “There were some turning points but I think Bianca played great.
"I knew coming into it that she was going to be fighting until the last point and that’s what she did.”
Gauff converted five of 14 break points against the Canadian, and won 84 percent (41 of 49) of her first-serve points.
Swiatek holds the 3-0 lifetime edge over Gauff and she has yet to drop a set in competition against the teenager.
Gauff, who will take to the doubles court alongside Jessica Pegula (against Kenin and Samsonova) on Thursday night, says she hasn’t given the pair’s fourth matchup much thought.
“I haven’t thought about it,” she said. “I’m thinking about my doubles match later today, so we’ll think about that when the time comes.”
But the rising American clearly hopes to show improvement in her game against the world-beating Pole. She targeted Swiatek’s backhand primarily in the Roland-Garros final, and may want to take her backhand up the line more this time around. Gauff also committed 24 unforced errors against 14 winners in their most recent matchup, but was much better in the second set (seven winners, 10 unforced errors).
Gauff’s main problem was getting her forehand to match up with Swiatek’s in Paris. According to Tennis Abstract, she hit only five forehand winners against 17 unforced errors.
Swiatek, who improved to 61-8 on the season on Thursday with a three set win over Zheng Qinwen of China.
“Obviously the level is going to be great. Iga is a champion and it’s going to be an opportunity to see if I have improved since the last time,” Gauff said.