Coco Gauff Reveals How She Turned Around Her Rivalry with Iga Swiatek Ahead of Potential Australian Open Clash

Iga Swiatek holds an 11-5 head-to-head lead over Coco Gauff, but has lost their last four matches.

Coco Gauff Reveals How She Turned Around Her Rivalry with Iga Swiatek Ahead of Potential Australian Open Clash

Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Coco Gauff kick-started her campaign for the 2026 Australian Open in an emphatic fashion, defeating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-3 in the first round on January 19. Following the match, the American talked about how she turned around her head-to-head record over Iga Swiatek.

Prior to arriving in Melbourne, Gauff represented the United States at the United Cup. They failed to defend their title with a 2-1 defeat to eventual champion Poland in the semifinals. The lone win that Team USA secured was through Gauff’s 6-4, 6-2 victory over Swiatek.

Although the 21-year-old still trails 5-11 in the head-to-head matchups against the six-time Grand Slam champion, it was the World No.3’s fourth consecutive win against Swiatek.

There was no other head-to-head I felt really bad about except for that one. In the past, I used to think about it so much because you just wanna get the one win. Once I got that, I kind of erased the other matches. Obviously, she’s a great player, and she deserved those wins. But I felt like some of those losses, I won’t say a lot, because she just outplayed me, but some of them, at least in the beginning, it was already in the mental deficit. Once I erased that mental deficit, I was able to play free.

The winning streak versus Swiatek started in the round robin stage of the 2024 WTA Finals, which Gauff later won. They then met in the 2025 United Cup final and the 2025 Madrid Open semifinals.

There was like no other head-to-head in tennis where I had that, so it was very difficult to navigate. Now I feel like I’m able to play free. Obviously, it’s still a big gap in the head-to-head. But I just erase it from my mind. Can’t change the past.

Coco Gauff added

After reaching the final, Poland finally tasted glory by defeating Switzerland. In the previous two finals, Swiatek and her team lost to America and Germany.

Coco Gauff reveals an awkward locker room interaction

Tennis players share the locker rooms with those they play against. Coco Gauff, following her first-round win, was asked about whether there were any awkward moments in the locker room.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via X/AllAboutHQ)

Yeah, it is awkward. I had an awkward one after my match. I won’t say who. I thought a person won, and they didn’t. I was like ‘Oh!’ And they were like ‘No’ and then I was like ‘Oh’.

Coco Gauff said

Gauff will next be locking horns with Serbia’s Olga Danilovic, who stopped seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams from scripting history after a three-set battle in the first round. The reigning French Open winner has met Danilovic in doubles but never in singles.

Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, is bidding to reach the Australian Open final for the first time, with her best performance being a semifinal appearance in 2024. Last year, her run ended in the quarterfinals with a straight-set defeat to Paula Badosa. In 2024, she suffered a straight-set semifinal defeat at the hands of eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.

Gauff will be hoping to have a better campaign, not just in Australia but also in the next few tournaments, as last year, she struggled a great deal in the tournaments she played after her quarterfinal defeat at Melbourne Park, reaching a final only when the clay swing started.

The youngster clinched the French Open by beating Sabalenka, prior to which, she lost the Madrid Open final to her and the Italian Open final to Jasmine Paolini. Gauff next won the Wuhan Open after going past compatriot Jessica Pegula.

Also read: Carlos Alcaraz Hails Samuel Lopez Amid Juan Carlos Ferrero Split: “Best Coach in the World”