Coco Gauff v Iga Swiatek for No 2 spot in WTA Rankings: How battle shapes up after Canadian Open exits
Iga Swiatek missed an opportunity to capitalise on Coco Gauff’s shock exit from the Canadian Open as she also made a fourth-round departure from the tournament, giving the American the upper hand in their battle for the No 2 spot in the WTA Rankings.
After top seed Gauff was stunned 6-1, 6-4 by 18-year-old wildcard Victoria Mboko in the last 16, Swiatek had a shot at overtaking the two-time Grand Slam winner in the rankings if she went all the way.
Following her defeat to the rising Canadian Mboko, Gauff finished the WTA 1000 event on 7,789 points while the Pole was 856 points adrift in third place on 6,813 points.
Both, of course, are well off the pace of Aryna Sabalenka at No 1 as the three-time Grand Slam winner sits on 12,225 points.
A title-winning run in Montreal would have seen Swiatek overtake Gauff in the rankings as she would have moved to 7,813 points after the tournament, but Clara Tauson ended her hopes with a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 win in the last 16.
Swiatek was the hot favourite as she was on a nine-match winning streak after winning Wimbledon, while she had also won her previous three matches against Tauson, including in the fourth round at the All England Club in July.
But the Dane turned the tables and claimed her first win in their head-to-head rivalry.
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“I just felt like after I won the first set that I needed to continue, because I know she’s never going to give up, and she’s going to come out firing no matter what,” Tauson said.
“I think obviously getting a win against her after losing to her in Wimbledon and a couple of weeks ago is obviously nice, because I was not feeling great in that match, and I felt like I was playing some good tennis in Wimbledon. So I felt like if I could keep that going, I thought I had a shot.”
No 2 Battle Moves To Cincinnati
Swiatek will get another opportunity at the Cincinnati Open, although this time she faces an uphill task as she will start the tournament with an 846-point deficit – the current 856 points minus the 10 points that Gauff is defending after her second-round exit in 2024.
The Pole herself doesn’t have any points to defend from the WTA 1000 event last year as her 390 points from her semi-final was removed following her positive test for a banned substance trimetazidine after the tournament.
Swiatek, though, will have to win the tournament (1000 points) and hope that Gauff loses early, but she also admits she needs to find her rhythm on hard courts again following the grass-court season.
“I still feel like I kind of need to transition on hard courts. And these matches are also kind of to learn again,” the six-time Grand Slam winner stated.
“I feel like I did kind of the same mistakes I did at the end of my hard court season in March.”
