Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff - Italian Open Rome Tennis Prediction and Pick 5/16/24
Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Iga Swiatek -588 / Coco Gauff +450 Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: USA: Tennis Channel Plus, UK: Sky Tennis, Global: WTA TV
Top seed Iga Swiatek will face reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff in a blockbuster semifinal at the 2024 Italian Open in Rome. The match is scheduled for Thursday, May 16. Here's our Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff prediction.
Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff Preview
Iga Swiatek has forged a 10-match win streak and is on course to win back-to-back WTA 1000s at this year's clay swing. Had it not been for Elena Rybakina, who stained her European clay swing this season in Stuttgart, Swiatek would have been perfect on her beloved surface. But nonetheless, winning Madrid and Rome will be a statement of intent from the Pole, who has not dropped a set at the 2024 Italian Open so far. Standing between her and a third final at the Eternal City is Coco Gauff.
While Swiatek's progress into the last four has been so serene, Gauff has battled past a trio of determined opponents. She required three sets to defeat Jaqueline Cristian and Paula Badosa, but she savored her best tennis in the quarterfinal stage when she earned her first Top 10 win of the season. The 20-year-old American won a marathon first set against Qinwen Zheng in a tie-break after 71 minutes before easing to victory with a 6-1 second set. Gauff has now equaled her career-best showing at the Italian Open.
Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff Head-To-Head
• Swiatek leads Gauff 9-1 in their head-to-head on the WTA Tour.
• They have played at this stage of the Italian Open before, with Swiatek winning 7-6, 6-3 in 2021.
• Swiatek is 12-1 on clay this season, while Gauff is 7-2 on the same surface in 2024.
Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff Prediction
Whenever this matchup comes up, the head-to-head is always the talking point. For Gauff, she doesn't pay attention to past matches and wants to start a new match on a clean slate. With this approach, I think she comes into this match with the right mentality. But does she have the arsenal to stop the Swiatek juggernaut? I doubt it. Gauff has not impressed me one bit this fortnight and might have lost earlier in the tournament if some of her opponents had the composure to see out leads. Against the top-ranked player, you are unlikely to get away with playing above-average tennis. Back the Pole to record a 10th win in the series.
Nur’s Pick Iga Swiatek in straight sets
AUTHOR: Nur Said
