Iga Swiatek unexpectedly easily defeated this year’s French Open finalist Cori “Coco” Gauff in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 tournament in San Diego. The duel, which lasted just over an hour, ended with the Polish tennis player winning 6:0, 6:3.
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@iga_swiatek sails into the #SanDiegoOpen semifinals with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Gauff! pic.twitter.com/x10ZnqM3QQ
— wta (@WTA) October 15, 2022
WIN. 62.
Iga Swiatek defeats Coco Gauff 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the San Diego Open semifinal.
It is the World No. 1’s 62nd match win of the 2022 season.#SanDiegoOpen pic.twitter.com/TxQfJX1b7h
— Lukas Weese (@Weesesports) October 15, 2022
Many said that 18-year-old Cori Gauff would put higher demands on the three years older Iga Swiatek. It’s true that in three previous duels, including the final of this year’s French Open in Paris, the Pole didn’t lose a single set to the American, but the venue of the match and the fact that the leader of the WTA ranking was still playing in the final of Ostrava on Sunday made her supporters approach this challenge with caution.
Swiatek started confidently and focused. She imposed a fierce pace of exchanges, which was unbearable for her opponent, who looked lost, abashed, and unable to catch the right rhythm. The result was 6:0 in the first set after less than half an hour of play.
The beginning of the second set indicated that the match might be quite short, as Swiatek immediately broke her rival and after a while was winning 2:0. Her advantage was so clear that emotions subsided. Gauff played a bit more effectively, hitting from deep in the court more often, but this was more due to the fact that the Pole was a bit off her game and did not push the pace as she did in the first set. Swiatek, who lost her only quarterfinal of the season to Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia in Warsaw, completed the formalities after 65 minutes of competition and will appear in the semifinals for the 11th time in the season.
Iga Swiatek (Poland, 1) – Cori “Coco” Gauff (USA, 6) 6:0, 6:3