Coco Gauff cannot believe how many times she has already played Iga Swiatek.
Both players are still in the early stages of their respective careers, and they occupy spaces in the World’s top five.
Their rivalry has been one-sided for most of it, but the 21-year-old seems to have found a new level of confidence playing against the five-time Grand Slam winner after winning the last three matches.
Being two of the world’s best, they are likely to compete in many more matches against one another, and Coco Gauff is up for the challenge.
Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty ImagesWhat is Coco Gauff’s prediction for her rivalry with Iga Swiatek?
Though both players are in their early twenties, Gauff and Swiatek have already played one another 15 times in a rivalry that began in 2021.
The American has won just four times, but she is on a three-match winning streak against Swiatek, reigning French Open champion.
The pair played in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open and Gauff claimed an empathic 6-1, 6-1 victory to reach the final.
Given how many times they have played already, Gauff thinks there is potential for her rivalry with Swiatek to hold the record for the most matches against one another in history.
“I cannot believe Iga & I played each other this many times (15). I’m 21, she’s 23, we’re so young & we both at least have, like, 10 more years in this game,” Gauff told reporters in Madrid.
“I feel like we’re going to end up having the record for most times playing against each other ever in tennis history.”
May-Jun 1986: Martina Navratilova (left) of the USA chats with Chris Evert also of the USA as they hold their respective trophies after the Womens Singles final during the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. Mandatory Credit: Allsport UK /AllsportWhich are the most prolific head-to-head rivalries in the open era?
Gauff and Swiatek have some way to go if they are to break the record for the most frequent tennis head-to-head rivalry in open era.
That record belongs to Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who played one an astonishing 80 times between 1973 and 1988, with Navratilova winning 43 of those matches.
The iconic sibling rivalry between Serena and Venus Williams lasted 31 matches from 19988 to 2020, with Serena prevailing on 19 occasions.
The three most prolific head-to-head rivalries on the ATP Tour come between the ‘Big 3’ of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Nadal and Djokovic contested 60 matches against each other, while Federer and Djokovic played 50 times, and Nadal and Federer’s rivalry featured 40 matches.
Each of these rivalries defined the last two decades of tennis and included matches that will long in the memory of fans worldwide.