Coco Gauff sends ‘confident’ warning ahead of Iga Swiatek United Cup clash
Coco Gauff believes she will be “confident” on court when she faces Iga Swiatek in the United Cup final on Sunday.
The United States will face Poland in Sunday’s final in Sydney, with Gauff and Swiatek’s women’s singles rubber set to play a key role in deciding who wins the title.
Neither woman has tasted defeat in singles action in this year’s edition of the United Cup, with world No 3 Gauff having not dropped a set across her four matches to date.
Saturday’s semi-final against the Czech Republic saw the 20-year-old comfortably dispatch Karolina Muchova, defeating the world No 22 6-1, 6-4 as the United States prevailed 3-0 in the semi-final.
Asked in the USA’s post-match press conference about the prospect of playing Swiatek, Gauff admitted she was “super excited” to take on the world No 2.
“I’m feeling great. I felt like I was playing good today [against Muchova],” said Gauff. “Obviously Iga is a tough opponent.
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it too much yet. I think it’s going to be a great level of tennis and super excited to go out there tomorrow and hopefully bring the Cup back home.”
Swiatek has proven to be the toughest opponent of Gauff’s career, with the Pole holding a dominant 11-2 lead in their head-to-head.
However, it was the American who triumphed when the two last met just over two months ago.
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Gauff defeated Swiatek 6-3, 6-4 in the round-robin stage of the WTA Finals last November, a victory that ultimately helped power the world No 3 to the title in Riyadh.
Reflecting on that victory, Gauff revealed she hoped that she would channel the same “confident” approach to again make life difficult for the five-time Grand Slam champion.
She added: “I think just confidence. I was very confident in Riyadh, I think when I’m playing confident tennis, that’s my best tennis. It makes it hard for her or anyone to really do anything.
“So tomorrow I’m just going to go out there and be confident.”
Swiatek and Gauff’s contest is set to be the first of three rubbers in Sunday’s final, which will take place inside the Ken Rosewall Arena.
Their clash will be followed by the men’s singles tie between the USA’s Taylor Fritz and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, before what could be a decisive mixed doubles rubber.
Sunday’s final will see Swiatek face her second straight match against a top 10 opponent, having defeated world No 6 Elena Rybakina 7-6(5), 6-4 on Saturday as Poland saw off Kazakhstan in a 3-0 triumph.
The final is the strongest available match-up on paper, with the United States seeded first and Poland seeded second heading into the event.
The US won the inaugural edition of the mixed team competition in 2023, while Poland was beaten by Germany in the final 12 months ago.
