Is the Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff rivalry going the Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova way in terms of one-sidedness?

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek beat World No. 3 Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4 in the 2024 French Open semifinal in Paris onThursday. Swiatek will next meet either Jasmine Paolini or Mirra Andreeva in the final on Saturday. Thus, Gauff had to endure yet another defeat against the Pole.

Iga Swiatek has dominated Coco Gauff in their head-to-head:

Swiatek has been a dominant player against Gauff so far. The Pole leads their head-to-head 11-1, with Gauff’s only win coming at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last year. The two players have met each other five times already at WTA 1000 events, with Swiatek leading 4-1. They have also met thrice in Grand Slams, all 3 times at the French Open and with the Pole prevailing on all occasions.

Swiatek is a highly dominant player on clay and has won all of her four matches against the American on the surface, all of them in straights. However, the inability of Gauff, who is the US Open champion, to win more than one of their six matches on hard-courts is a concerning thing for her.

Swiatek is usually more aggressive in her approach, as was evident from their clash at the Italian Open earlier this year. Gauff often struggled to deal with the Pole's powerful groundstrokes and did not have a forehand forceful enough to match her opponents.

Their rivalry is so far reminiscent of the one between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova:

Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff after their match at the China Open

The rivalry between Swiatek and Gauff, as of now, resembles that between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in terms of lopsidedness. Williams has won 20 out of 22 matches against Sharapova, making their rivalry one of the most one-sided ones in tennis history

Sharapova was a five-time Grand Slam champion herself. However, Serena Williams made her appear like a lesser player than she actually was. The American led their head-to-head 13-1 on hard courts and 8-1 at Grand Slam tournaments.

The American proved to be too powerful for the Russian in most of their clashes. Serena's lethal serve and groundstrokes kept pegging back the Russian and the latter also had some psychological shortcomings while coming up against the mighty Serena.

As of now, the rivalry between Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff is going the same way, with the latter winning just one out of 12 meetings against the Pole. What's concerning is the fact that all of Gauff's losses have been in straight sets.

The 20-year-old still has time and coach Brad Gilbert on her side to develop her mental game, as that will be crucial if she is to get the better of someone like Iga Swiatek. Gauff mentality has improved over the past few months and if she keeps bettering it, there is a fair chance of her making the rivalry with the Pole more competitive.