Cori Gauff acknowledged Iga Swiatek has been doing major things over the last year but underlined that the Pole’s achievements are “not some impossible goal.” Gauff, who will be turning 19 on Monday, is already a Grand Slam finalist and has been ranked at No 4 in the world.
On the other side, Swiatek has three Grand Slams and she has been ranked at No 1 for the past 12 months. Against Swiatek, Gauff has zero wins and six losses. Gauff has major respect for Swiatek’s game but highlighted that as a competitor, she cannot allow herself to think the Pole is way better than her and unbeatable.
Gauff: No one looks at Swiatek as some impossible game
“Obviously she [Iga Swiatek] is doing really well but no one looks at her like some impossible goal. I mean, she’s just a tennis player. I am not trying to downplay her achievements, she’s beaten me a lot of times.
But I feel like you can’t look at the game that way. This is a person that’s excelling at the level right now, but you can’t look at it I guess in a far way because you want that to be you one day. She’s one of those players that you kinda have to learn from but also I guess not put too high on a pedestal because that’s going to be your opponent at the end of the day.
So I think it’s like a catch-22 there. That’s like now with a lot of the guys, with the Big 3, Rafa and Novak. I think it’s kinda the same way where the guys have to put them on that pedestal but when they play them, you can’t think about everything that they have done on the court,” Gauff explained, per Sportskeeda.
Last year, Gauff made her first Grand Slam final at the French Open. In her first Grand Slam final, Gauff suffered a 6-1 6-3 loss against Swiatek.
