Coco Gauff moves ahead of Iga Swiatek in key area: Stats from the hottest WTA streak in 2023

Shahida Jacobs 05 Oct 2023 12:15 PM

Coco Gauff (USA) in action

Coco Gauff’s dream run on the WTA Tour continued on Thursday as she booked her place in the quarter-final of the China Open with an excellent win over Veronika Kudermetova.

Victory over Kudermetova helped Gauff to extend her unbeaten run to 15 – which is now the longest streak on the Tour in 2023 as she moved ahead of four-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek.

Former world No 1 Swiatek initially held the record for the longest streak in women’s tennis this year as she won 14 matches in a row from the start of her Roland Garros title defence until her quarter-final defeat at Wimbledon.

Gauff, though, matched that number with her second-round win over Petra Martic on Tuesday and then went one better with a 7-6 (7-6), 6-2 win over 13th seed Kudermetova in Beijing.

“She was playing some really good tennis,” the 19-year-old said after her win. “I think she was striking the ball well and returning well. Then I was able to raise my game and keep going after the first set.

“The first couple of matches were rough but I feel that today I played pretty much good tennis for the most part. I’m happy to keep improving match by match.”

The American’s incredible run started on August 17 when she won her opening match at the Cincinnati Open and she went all the way in Ohio as she won her maiden WTA 1000 title.

Gauff then followed it up with seven wins at the US Open as she lifted her maiden Grand Slam title before adding three more wins to her tally in Beijing.

Coco Gauff’s 15-match unbeaten run

Cincinnati Open
Defeated Mayar Sherif 6-2, 6-2 in second round
Defeated Linda Noskova 6-4, 6-0 in third round
Defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 in quarter-final
Defeated Iga Swiatek 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4 in semi-final
Defeated Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4 in final

US Open
Defeated Laura Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in first round
Defeated Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-2 in second round
Defeated Elise Mertens 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 in third round
Defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in fourth round
Defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-2 in quarter-final
Defeated Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5 in semi-final
Defeated Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in final

China Open
Defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 6-3 in first round
Defeated Petra Martic 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2) in second round
Defeated Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in third round

Gauff, who will look to extend her winning run to 16 when she takes on Maria Sakkari in the last eight on Friday, has won an incredible 21 out of 22 matches since she was stunned by Sofia Kenin in the first round at Wimbledon at the beginning of July.

Following her exit from the grass-court Grand Slam, the teenager took a break before returning with a title run at the Citi DC Open – defeating Sakkari in the final. She then lost in the quarter-final of the Canadian Open against Jessica Pegula with that defeat her only loss in 22 matches.