Australian Open 2021: Elina Svitolina vs Coco Gauff preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: Elina Svitolina vs Coco Gauff

Date: 11 February 2021

Tournament: Australian Open 2021

Round: Second round (Round of 64)

Venue: Melbourne, Australia

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Outdoor hardcourt

Prize money: AUD $80,000,000

Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport 1 | India - Sony Six

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Elina Svitolina vs Coco Gauff preview

Fifth seed Elina Svitolina will be looking to make a deep run at the Australian Open this year. But for that to happen, she first has to overcome the fast-rising Coco Gauff in her second-round match on Thursday.

The Ukrainian has started 2021 in less than ideal fashion. She suffered an upset loss to Russia's Veronika Kudermetova in the quarterfinals of the Abu Dhabi Open, and lost at the same stage a couple of weeks later in the Gippsland Trophy event - this time to the eventual champion Elise Mertens.

Svitolina has struggled with her status as one of the top favorites in the women's game for quite some time now. And the 26-year-old will have to douse the challenge of teen prodigy Coco Gauff if she intends to keep that status alive in Melbourne.

Coco Gauff

That said, Gauff's last good result came in Lexington last year, where she reached the semifinals. Since then, the World No. 48 has posted a -7 W-L record on the WTA Tour.

She did look comfortable in her Australian Open opener though, beating Switzerland's Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-2. Moreover, Gauff has defeated some big names in the past, having gotten the better of Naomi Osaka en route to reaching the second week of the Australian Open last year. She also beat seven-time Major champion Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019 before repeating that result at Melbourne Park in 2020.

Elina Svitolina vs Coco Gauff head-to-head

The second-round match in Melbourne will be the first-ever career meeting between Elina Svitolina and Coco Gauff, so the head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.

Elina Svitolina vs Coco Gauff prediction

Elina Svitolina

Elina Svitolina possesses a consistent serve, which she uses to maintain the pressure over her opponents in longer matches. The World No. 5 also has the ability to turn defense into offense at will, and can grind out laborious baseline rallies from the back of the court.

But her younger opponent, Coco Gauff, has a pretty effective all-round game herself. The American is quick with her footwork and proactive with her court positioning. Gauff also has brilliant shot selection, having used drop shots and lobs to great effect in the past.

If Gauff can put pressure on Svitolina with her return of serve on Thursday, she might be able to make in-roads into the Ukrainian's defenses and cause an upset.

Prediction: Coco Gauff to win in three sets.