Was Gauff's big-margin win over Swiatek just another match or...?

RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
I wasn't able to catch more than the last couple games of Coco Gauff's one-sided 6-1, 6-1 pasting of Iga Swiatek earlier -- in the semis of Madrid.

Whether you saw the match or simply the scoreline, was this just a great day at the office for Coco and a terrible day for Iga or...was it more than that?

Yes, Roland Garros plays differently than Madrid, but even so: she won by a huge margin.
Things can change quickly, but for now, it certainly looks like Coco has flipped the switch on her H2H rivalry with Iga.
Also, if Coco served as she (apparently, per the match stats) did today, she'll be very hard to beat ...anywhere. By anyone.
And her last three finishes at RG have been: Final, QF, SF -- not bad at all.

While Iga is not having a 2025 worthy of her high standards, I'm not about to pull the plug on her season, let alone her career.
But IF she goes slamless, she definitely has some improvements to make looking forward.
 
How could Coco Gauff, who has no forehand, beat the WTA version of Rafa on clay??
 
The thing with Gauff is she's flipped the switch before and then went right back to being her old self before too long, so there's no point at all in getting excited over the result of one match, even if it is against her daddy on her favourite surface. I'd say it is just another match for her, yes. The follow up is more important.

For Iga? Tougher to say. She looks more vulnerable compared to last year, but I wouldn't be remotely surprised if she still walked out of Paris with the title. Practically all of her losses this year have come to very good players.
 
ibbi said:
The thing with Gauff is she's flipped the switch before and then went right back to being her old self before too long, so there's no point at all in getting excited over the result of one match, even if it is against her daddy on her favourite surface. I'd say it is just another match for her, yes. The follow up is more important.

For Iga? Tougher to say. She looks more vulnerable compared to last year, but I wouldn't be remotely surprised if she still walked out of Paris with the title. Practically all of her losses this year have come to very good players.
Click to expand...

Well, she's bound to come up against some very good players in RG.
 
Mainad said:
Well, she's bound to come up against some very good players in RG.
Click to expand...
Well, you never know with how lopsided these draws can be:-D

I would have said after Andreeva beat her twice on hard courts that she'd like her chances on clay given she's typically been better on it up till now, but she's hardly set the world on fire this clay season so far either.

Ostapenko will beat Iga any time she feels like it, but the question is always whether she can get to her to begin with.

She got her revenge on the other two who beat her this week (Eala, Keys), though both were admittedly very tough matches.
 
21 forehand UEs from Swiatek today and 0 break points.

On one hand, at least she is still continually reaching semi-finals and quarter-finals at tournaments and isn't being bounced out in the first couple of rounds. But once there, the manner of her defeats, including her body language, the way she has looked completely lost and frustrated on court, her serve being pummeled, the time that she likes to set up her shots and forehand in-particular being taken away from her etc. has been concerning. I've talked many times about how her game consciously became more one-dimensional and focused on an aggressive baseline style, with her deliberately cutting out netplay, dropshots etc.

She is clearly very intense and regimented when it comes to her tennis (the influence of Daria Abramowicz has been a constant talking point including telling her that she shouldn't read certain books late at night). But she looks miserable out on the court these days, and it feels that she takes every defeat to heart while struggling to quickly move on.
 
ibbi said:
The thing with Gauff is she's flipped the switch before and then went right back to being her old self before too long, so there's no point at all in getting excited over the result of one match, even if it is against her daddy on her favourite surface. I'd say it is just another match for her, yes. The follow up is more important.

For Iga? Tougher to say. She looks more vulnerable compared to last year, but I wouldn't be remotely surprised if she still walked out of Paris with the title. Practically all of her losses this year have come to very good players.
Click to expand...
And if she faces "chubby" Ostapenko in Paris, what will happen?
:unsure:
 
Gizo said:
21 forehand UEs from Swiatek today and 0 break points.

On one hand, at least she is still continually reaching semi-finals and quarter-finals at tournaments and isn't being bounced out in the first couple of rounds. But once there, the manner of her defeats, including her body language, the way she has looked completely lost and frustrated on court, her serve being pummeled, the time that she likes to set up her shots and forehand in-particular being taken away from her etc. has been concerning. I've talked many times about how her game consciously became more one-dimensional and focused on an aggressive baseline style, with her deliberately cutting out netplay, dropshots etc.

She is clearly very intense and regimented when it comes to her tennis (the influence of Daria Abramowicz has been a constant talking point including telling her that she shouldn't read certain books late at night). But she looks miserable out on the court these days, and it feels that she takes every defeat to heart while struggling to quickly move on.
Click to expand...
In short, I agree.

Iga actually volleys well, has a good dropper and is capable of opening the court "horizontally". She seems to have cut back on all of these elements, and without, say, improving her serve.

The good news is that a down year for Iga is still a very good one for all but a few current competitors. I don't want to get too far ahead of this, but I have always wondered a little about her competitive edge and psyche.

I admit to liking her, even when she makes it difficult to do so. It almost seems like she's in the "wrong line of work", but is, of course, so phenomenally talented at tennis. Seems like (and this is meant more as a compliment) she'd be happier in a quiet life within academia.
 
It's really funny how people just ignore she has played much worse since she got caught doping. But hey keep ignoring that
 
BallisticMissileFonseca said:
How could Coco Gauff, who has no forehand, beat the WTA version of Rafa on clay??
Click to expand...
Her forehand has gotten better since she’s dumped Brad Gilbert. It was almost instant bc she won Beijing then WTA finals and you saw that improvement. It may not be a weapon but it’s no longer a liability.

Coco’s next issue to tackle is her serve. It can really let her down and struggles with DF’s.
 
RaulRamirez said:
I wasn't able to catch more than the last couple games of Coco Gauff's one-sided 6-1, 6-1 pasting of Iga Swiatek earlier -- in the semis of Madrid.

Whether you saw the match or simply the scoreline, was this just a great day at the office for Coco and a terrible day for Iga or...was it more than that?

Yes, Roland Garros plays differently than Madrid, but even so: she won by a huge margin.
Things can change quickly, but for now, it certainly looks like Coco has flipped the switch on her H2H rivalry with Iga.
Also, if Coco served as she (apparently, per the match stats) did today, she'll be very hard to beat ...anywhere. By anyone.
And her last three finishes at RG have been: Final, QF, SF -- not bad at all.

While Iga is not having a 2025 worthy of her high standards, I'm not about to pull the plug on her season, let alone her career.
But IF she goes slamless, she definitely has some improvements to make looking forward.
Click to expand...

It was interesting to see – Coco was extremely confident in every rally and basically Iga could not win a point. Not only was it 6-1, 6-1, but it was also the most one-sided defeat of Iga’s career by dominance ratio, i.e., .30. A dominance ratio like this is what you see a top player have against a futures player. It is very, very rare.
 
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I watched the second set and even though Coco played well, Iga played really very badly, created a lot of FH errors. It was also obvious from her body language that Iga was not feeling well. Something is going on with her, it is not normal for a tennis player of her caliber to never play any WTA tournament final almost a year. There is a lot of speculation about her relationship with psychologist Daria, who is said to be bossing her around. This would be the second case of a toxic mentor on the WTA Tour (after Vukov at Rybakina). :confused:
 
Screenshot-2025-05-02-151321.png
 
Enceladus said:
I watched the second set and even though Coco played well, Iga played really very badly, created a lot of FH errors. It was also obvious from her body language that Iga was not feeling well. Something is going on with her, it is not normal for a tennis player of her caliber to never play any WTA tournament final almost a year. There is a lot of speculation about her relationship with psychologist Daria, who is said to be bossing her around. This would be the second case of a toxic mentor on the WTA Tour (after Vukov at Rybakina). :confused:
Click to expand...
Psychologists have boundaries they cannot cross. If she did she would face severe penalties and possibly lose her license. This is possible, but highly unlikely. If it was happening, Iga or a family member or a friend or a coach could easily google the behavior of the psychologist and then know to report it and then part ways. This makes it almost impossible that this is happening.
 
jimmy8 said:
Psychologists have boundaries they cannot cross. If she did she would face severe penalties and possibly lose her license. This is possible, but highly unlikely. If it was happening, Iga or a family member or a friend or a coach could easily google the behavior of the psychologist and then know to report it and then part ways. This makes it almost impossible that this is happening.
Click to expand...
They can't unless their clients let them. And from what I've heard, that's what happened at Iga & her psychologist Daria relationship. It seems that Daria has become a surrogate mother to Iga, which makes it difficult for Iga to dismiss Daria, probably worried that Daria will cause a hysteric scene if that happens. From what I've read elsewhere, Daria supposedly dictated to Iga which books she should read, what she could do in her free time or what hairstyle she should have. These are obvious violation of professional frontiers.

Yesterday, Iga seemed to me as if she wasn't enjoying the game, she seemed like an angry child, who reluctantly does her homework.
 
I don't know what to make of Iga's professional...or possibly, personal...relationship with Daria. It would be totally speculative on my part.

Now, I have always wondered how much, if any, enjoyment Iga gets from tennis. I like her, but other than the great level of tennis she plays, it's not an enjoyable experience watching her as she just doesn't "let the crowd in". And it feels less like stoicism than angst. Yes, occasionally an expression of joy or extreme relief after winning, but that's about it.
That may be her natural competitive personality, or it may have been instilled in her by Daria...who knows?
 
RaulRamirez said:
I wasn't able to catch more than the last couple games of Coco Gauff's one-sided 6-1, 6-1 pasting of Iga Swiatek earlier -- in the semis of Madrid.

Whether you saw the match or simply the scoreline, was this just a great day at the office for Coco and a terrible day for Iga or...was it more than that?

Yes, Roland Garros plays differently than Madrid, but even so: she won by a huge margin.
Things can change quickly, but for now, it certainly looks like Coco has flipped the switch on her H2H rivalry with Iga.
Also, if Coco served as she (apparently, per the match stats) did today, she'll be very hard to beat ...anywhere. By anyone.
And her last three finishes at RG have been: Final, QF, SF -- not bad at all.

While Iga is not having a 2025 worthy of her high standards, I'm not about to pull the plug on her season, let alone her career.
But IF she goes slamless, she definitely has some improvements to make looking forward.
Click to expand...
Until Coco beats Iga at RG would not place too much significance on this win. Coco looked great in the United Cup but was a disappointment at the AO
 
RaulRamirez said:
I don't know what to make of Iga's professional...or possibly, personal...relationship with Daria. It would be totally speculative on my part.

Now, I have always wondered how much, if any, enjoyment Iga gets from tennis. I like her, but other than the great level of tennis she plays, it's not an enjoyable experience watching her as she just doesn't "let the crowd in". And it feels less like stoicism than angst. Yes, occasionally an expression of joy or extreme relief after winning, but that's about it.
That may be her natural competitive personality, or it may have been instilled in her by Daria...who knows?
Click to expand...
I've wondered if Borg or Evert, central figures of the tennis boom would be popular today. Sadly I doubt it, those sort of stoic personalities wouldn't fly today where pretty much everyone on tour does that stupid ear gesture after every other point. And every press conference would grill them about why they never smile, look happy etc.
 
Moose Malloy said:
I've wondered if Borg or Evert, central figures of the tennis boom would be popular today. Sadly I doubt it, those sort of stoic personalities wouldn't fly today where pretty much everyone on tour does that stupid ear gesture after every other point. And every press conference would grill them about why they never smile, look happy etc.
Click to expand...
I get your point, but I still think that they would.
Both just projected cool, "ice water in their veins" ...and it did not hurt that they were both very good-looking.
...
Sinner is very stoic out there. Even Roger mostly reigned in his emotions and was as popular as any player...ever. Of course, Roger did sometimes have moments of emotion where he did let the fans in.
With Iga (even though I'm a fan), she doesn't seem to project stoicism and calm under pressure. It really is an angst-ridden experience.
Granted, when she's on a hot streak, she might, but even then.
 
RaulRamirez said:
Now, I have always wondered how much, if any, enjoyment Iga gets from tennis. I like her, but other than the great level of tennis she plays, it's not an enjoyable experience watching her as she just doesn't "let the crowd in". And it feels less like stoicism than angst. Yes, occasionally an expression of joy or extreme relief after winning, but that's about it.
That may be her natural competitive personality, or it may have been instilled in her by Daria...who knows?
Click to expand...
i tend to think there's a very particular reason Swiatek often brings Graf to the mind with her play, and her statement in this article seems to point to that reason:
Prompted by a reporter at the All England Club after her first-round win over Sofia Kenin to name who from tennis, past or present, she'd most like to invite to a dinner party, Swiatek name-dropped three of the WTA's most prolific champions: Steffi Graf, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.
Click to expand...
"It's hard for me to compare our styles," she said. "Obviously we're playing in different eras of tennis. It's kind of hard to find the same things, especially with her backhand and her slice, her volley, and me not being able to play these kind of things. So more about mentality."
Click to expand...
and it seems like Swiatek is a bit too self-aware for her own good, and maybe feels that she isn't as good as she needs to be for her own and for everyone's expectations for her. in that sense, a similar struggle to what i think Alcaraz has also been going through. perhaps that's the real reason why Swiatek Unironically needs to "go to Ibiza" (in the words of Petkovic) - go have a chat with someone who Gets It!
Moose Malloy said:
I've wondered if Borg or Evert, central figures of the tennis boom would be popular today. Sadly I doubt it, those sort of stoic personalities wouldn't fly today where pretty much everyone on tour does that stupid ear gesture after every other point. And every press conference would grill them about why they never smile, look happy etc.
Click to expand...
not as sure about Evert, but i do think that's a very genuine and realistic question for Borg - look at what Borg and Bergelin did, for better or worse, at the USO!
 
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