Iga Swiatek & Coco Gauff will meet for the first time in 2026, in their very first tournament of the new season, at the United Cup. Their respective countries, Poland and USA, have reached the semifinals of the tournament, a repeat of the final from last year.
Swiatek, although leading the head-to-head 11-4, is on a three-match losing streak against Gauff. In those three matches – the 2024 WTA Finals, the 2025 United Cup and the 2025 Madrid Open, Gauff did not drop a single set and won by very convincing margins.
This time, however, Iga Swiatek has promised that she will do the homework before they meet on Saturday. Speaking in her press conference after Poland downed Australia 2-1 in the quarterfinals, the World No. 2 said about the upcoming clash against Coco Gauff:
“We played so many matches with Coco that I don’t really, like, look at the previous ones so much. Like if I would have to do that every time, I would be thinking for a long time because we played many matches against each other.”
“But yeah, honestly after last year’s tournament, I didn’t really analyze this match that much. I was already kind of focused on Australian Open.”
As for the strategy part, Swiatek is relying on her coach Wim Fissette to watch the tapes from their last United Cup showdown and come up with the right notes.
“For sure I’m going to sit with Wim tomorrow and he will watch it and he will give me the tips,” Swiatek added.
Iga Swiatek also disclosed what her own plans for beating Gauff will be, stating that she will try to implement all the things she has been working on during the pre-season.
“The key for me will be just to focus on myself, try to implement the stuff that I worked on during the pre-season and be brave with the decisions. Yeah, we’ll see,” she added.
Against Australia, Swiatek won 6-1, 6-1 vs Maya Joint. Although Hubert Hurkacz then lost his singles clash vs Alex de Minaur, the Polish mixed doubles team ensured they reached the semifinals.
Iga Swiatek not thinking about Poland losing to USA in United Cup final last year
At the press conference, Iga Swiatek was also asked about how much the final loss to USA at the United Cup last year was weighing on her mind, a question she rejected swiftly.
The six-time Grand Slam champion insisted that none of her teammates are thinking about the loss, maintaining that they will just focus on the present.
“Honestly, I feel that a whole year in our lives is pretty long. It wouldn’t make sense to think about that. If it would happen a week ago, I think we would have pretty fresh memories. No point thinking about that and focusing on that. I don’t think any of us will,” Iga Swiatek said.
In the first singles match of the semifinals, Hubert Hurkacz will take on Taylor Fritz. Meanwhile, the other semifinal is contested between Switzerland and Belgium.
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