Cori Gauff was all thrilled after clinching her first win over Iga Swiatek as the American admitted she didn’t want “that Gael Monfils record against Novak Djokovic.” On Saturday, Gauff defeated Swiatek 7-6 (2) 3-6 6-4 in the Cincinnati semifinal for her first win over the Pole.
Previously, Gauff suffered seven straight-set defeats against Swiatek. Earlier in the week, Djokovic defeated Monfils to improve to 19-0 against the Frenchman – that officially set the most lopsided head-to-head in ATP history.
After beating Swiatek for the first time, Gauff hopes for more wins against the Pole in the near future.
Gauff happy to avoid Monfils’ record against Djokovic
“No offense to Gael [Monfils], but I did not want that record, like the Novak and Gael record.
I’m really trying to cut this down as much as possible. So hopefully I can face her again and get the numbers up. But it feels really good. It wasn’t necessarily, like, her as a player. I think it was just the moment, playing players like her.
I think it gives me confidence that I have the ability. She’s a four-time Grand Slam champion, No 1. It shows that I can be at that level or compete with that level at least,” Gauff said after beating Swiatek for the first time.Going into the Cincinnati match, Gauff’s plan was to be aggressive on her service even if that led to mistakes.
“I was telling myself to still go for my serve. I think in the past she’s broken me fairly easy pretty much every match. I knew maybe my typical safe serve wasn’t going to work today. I missed a lot more probably than I’d like to in a normal scenario.
But she’s one of the best returners. You kind of just have to take your chances,” Gauff said.Now, Gauff is set to meet Karolina Muchova in the Cincinnati final. If Gauff beats Muchova, it will be the first WTA 1000 title for 19-year-old Gauff.
