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Billie Jean King recently expressed her excitement for Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka's upcoming semifinal match at the 2024 Australian Open on Thursday (January 25).
Gauff, 19, is the reigning US Open champion and the fourth seed in Melbourne. She has been in superb form this year, winning a WTA title in Auckland and reaching the last eight of the Australian Open without dropping a set.
Gauff then survived a tough challenge from unseeded Marta Kostyuk in the quarterfinals, winning 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 6-2 in a three-hour marathon. Sabalenka, 25, is the defending Australian Open champion and the second seed.
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The Belarusian has been equally impressive and hasn't dropped a set at the event so far. She breezed past ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova, 6-2, 6-3, in the quarterfinals, extending her winning streak at Melbourne Park to 12 matches.
This will be Gauff and Sabalenka's seventh encounter and a rematch of their previous clash at the 2023 US Open final. King, who is one of the most influential figures in tennis history, is eagerly anticipating the clash.
King posted a picture of the two players on her Instagram story on Tuesday, January 23, and wrote:
"Can't wait!"
A look into Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka's head-to-head record
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka have faced each other six times on the WTA tour, with the former leading the head-to-head record 4-2.
Their rivalry started in 2020, when Gauff stunned Sabalenka in the second round of the Lexington Open, winning 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4. A few months later, they met again in the second round of the Ostrava Open, where Sabalenka prevailed with a scoreline of 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(2). The Belarusian went on to win her seventh career title by defeating Victoria Azarenka in straight sets in the final.
Gauff then got her second win over Sabalenka in 2021, when she beat her 7-5, 6-3 in the third round of the Rome Masters on clay. The American stunned the Belarusian again in three sets in their last-16 clash at the 2022 Toronto Open.
Sabalenka then got her revenge in 2023, when she crushed Gauff 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells. She went on to reach the final, where she lost to Elena Rybakina in straight sets.
The most memorable match between the two, however, was in the 2023 US Open final, where Coco Gauff claimed her maiden Grand Slam title. The 19-year-old won in three sets, becoming the youngest American US Open champion since Serena Williams in 1999.
