- Teenager reaches final with 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4 win in Cincinnati
- ‘I was telling myself: you’re a warrior and you can do this.’
Over the past two years of her young career, Coco Gauff had stared down Iga Swiatek eight times across three different continents. It is the most the 19-year-old has faced any opponent and on paper it should be a tantalising match-up between the undisputed No 1 and the highest-ranked teenager in the world.
Instead, from Gauff’s perspective, it had been a disaster. Not only had Gauff lost all seven of their meetings and all 14 of their sets before this week, but she wasn’t even close. In their last six meetings, Gauff averaged just four games per match.