The women’s tennis is showing a massive paradigm shift. A few years ago, there used to be a new Grand Slam champion in almost every major tournament. However, World Number 1 Iga Swiatek has taken matters into her own hands and put on a consistent show tournament after tournament. As a result, she clinched her fifth Grand Slam title recently at the French Open, after putting on a dominating performance in the tournament. While Swiatek’s consistency is second to none currently, there is an epic rivalry developing between her and Coco Gauff. Although there have been many talks about their matchups, Andy Roddick put them to rest recently.

Swiatek and Gauff also faced each other in the recently-concluded French Open. However, the Pole ran away with the contest, defeating Gauff in straight sets in the semi-final. While Roddick praised Gauff’s rise, he remained concerned about her matchup with Swiatek.

During a recent episode of the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast, he said, “She is one of the best problem solvers having less than her best, that’s out there. You know, she can double-fault 15 times and still get through matches. Her forehand can be shaky, she still gets through matches, but this matchup against Iga.”

Further, he went on to add, “We’re lying if we say that she’s closer now than she was two years ago. And I harp on matchups on this podcast where it’s like someone’s playing well, this person is playing well on the like, well, Coco looks great for the I’m like the matchup if they’re both playing fine. The matchup dictates everything.”

For the record, Swiatek has lost just a solitary match against Gauff in the 12 matches played between them. It’s the kind of one-sided head-to-head record that can drive an athlete mad, with fear, with frustration, with anger. At the end of the SF at Roland Garros, the scoreline read a brutal 6-2, 6-4, and as usual, Swiatek had taken the victory in straight sets. With her wrong serve call at the beginning of the second set, Gauff lost the point to Swiatek when the ball was called out instead of in.

“When you’re playing against her — every point matters against anybody, but especially against her,” Gauff said of her Polish opponent afterward. As for her own serve, Swiatek was breaking it almost easily and returning the balls with power, ending the game in what was an expected result at this point.

The only time Gauff has won in the 12-11 H2h was in Cincinnati in 2023. Talking about the only defeat against her rival, Swiatek made a bizarre remark recently.

Iga Swiatek defends her Cincinnati loss against Coco Gauff

During last year’s Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, Gauff got the better of Swiatek after numerous attempts. The support of the home crowd helped in that matter as Gauff overcame Swiatek’s challenge in a hard-fought encounter which was decided in the third set.

However, Swiatek had a strange thought on her personal playing level while writing off Gauff’s solitary win over her. She said, “Well, it’s hard to compare. In Cincinnati, we have one of the fastest hard courts on tour. Really hard to compare. But I know that I did some stuff wrong in Cincinnati, and I didn’t want to repeat those mistakes. Usually players change their tactics when we go to different surface. I was ready for anything. I was ready to just stick to my plan and be consequent with that.”

Meanwhile, Gauff will be up for revenge as the grass-court season gets underway. Can the American sensation get the better of Swiatek on the grass surface? Let us know your views in the comments below.