Can Coco Gauff  upset Iga Swiatek in the semis?

Coco Gauff
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

Is it possible that Coco Gauff will beat against Iga Swiatek for the second time? Maybe, but the Polish person has beaten the American 10 times, and Gauff beat her just one time, in Cincinnati, on the hardcourts. At Roland Garros on Thursday, Gauff is going to have to chance a few tactics, and make sure that she can try to crush her forehand, as Swiatek knows that she is more solid, and deeper, too. Last year at RG in the quarters, Swiatek  beat Gauff 6-4,  6-2, with some amazing shots. 

Yes, Gauff has a terrific backhand, and she is very quick, when she is running. Also, she loves the net, but Swiatek has a better serve, and she is not only can immediately attacks, but also, she can jump on the lines. Eventually, Gauff will beat her again, but exactly, when and where on the clay? Swiatek has won four Grand Slams — three at the French Open — and one at the 2022 U.S. Open. Gauff has won just one at a Slam, at the 2023 U.S. Open. Gauff has improved a lot of the past two years, yet she was unable to win a tournament since January, which is OK, yet Swiatek just won Madrid and Rome. She is on fire, beating  Gauff 6-4, 6-3 in Rome. 

“I remember last year was really stressful for me, so every match was kind of like a relief,” Swiatek said. “Now I’m enjoying it more, and I have more satisfaction from just playing my game. Two years ago, I would say in my mind it felt pretty similar, because I just felt like I had already a great season, and now I can just go for it.”

Iga Swiatek will win it 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the third set.

All of a sudden, the 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva rose up, super high.  In the third set, she was comfortable, while Aryna Sabalenka threw in some unusually bad shots, and she lost  6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4.

Andreeva went for it a lot, down the lines, and closer  into the corners. Her serve isn’t great yet, but her forehand and her backhand was huge.  She has to face against the Italian, the  Jasmine Paolini, who stunned Elena Rybakina 6-2, 4-6, 6-4,  her first time at the Grand Slam semis. Over the past 10 days, she has been very impressive, pushing herself, trying to hit it harder and harder, rather then just putting it back in. She also scrambled, and managed to confuse with Rybakina, who almost won, but she missed some wild, out, shots. 

So now, both Paolini and Andreeva have reached the semis at a Slam, so clearly, when they come on the court, they will be nervous, but when they start, one of them will lock it in. They will have some cool rallies, and some tremendous shots, but in the end, the veteran Paolini will win it 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. 

The picks at Wimbledon: Monday, July 10

Stefanos Tsitsipas over Christopher Eubanks

Christopher Eubanks

The hard-running Greek Tsitsipas is finally playing very well, outstanding when he beat Andy Murray in five wonderful sets. He has been there before, but the American Eubanks has suddenly become much better. Over the years, he could not beat the top players, but this year, he has become much more powerful. He is the only American who has made it into the second week at Wimbledon. When they started to play at the event, they thought that they had a chance to go very deep, but they all went down, day after day.  But not  Eubanks, who is thinking on court, and really to go for it. However, he might be aggressive. Tsitsipas will push forward, and change it up with his massive forehand and his potent backhand. Tsitsipas will win it in four stellar sets.

Petra Kvitova over Ons Jabeur
The two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova is barreling again with a tremendous confident. On the hard courts, she can look wonderful, but she can also play awful. But, not now, as she is running all over the place. She can be so rugged, and she will scream after she just slapped a terrific winner.

Jabeur finally began to guess on the court again. Clearly, she has so much variety, and she also loves to hit drop shots. She also likes to spin it and fool her opponents. However, Kvitova knows exactly how to play against her. Yes, she can mentally check out, but right now, she has checked in. As she said: “I love playing on grass, for sure,” said Kvitova. “When my serve is working I love it even more. I don’t think it was the case today but somehow I found a way, which I’m very happy with.” Kvitova will win it in three demanding sets.

Madison Keys over Mirra Andreeva
The 16-year-old Andreeva came up really fast, as she knocked out Anastasia Potapova to reach in the fourth round. Some people knew that she can swing away, and she can sprint side to side. Clearly, she has a lot of work ahead, but she is very focused, even at her age.

“Honestly, after Paris I just had quite a long talk with myself, just me and myself, and that’s it. I talked to myself. I just talked,” Andreeva said. “I don’t know, just in my head I realized some things. I took some decisions that I think are now important for me.”

She might, but Keys really likes to shorten points on the grass. When she puts it in her first serve, then she sets with the points. She has been around for a while, and she has become hurt,physically, but when she is healthy, she can go very deep, like when she did at the Australian Open and the US Open.  Keys is hard to read, but at least over the past eight days, she is secure again. Therefore, Keys will beat the young player in two tight sets.

Carlos Alcaraz  over Matteo Berrettini

This is almost a standard analysis that the Spaniard believes that he can win every match. Even if he misses some odd points, when it can go for a few hours, he will change it up and not to try and nail down the line all the time. Alcaraz is growing, not just that he runs so fast, but week after week, he can see what he is really doing.

The Italian Berrettini can be darn hard opponent, and his backhand can also be strong as he bashes it down the line. However, he was hurt a lot this year, and while he has had a few very good wins here, he is not ready to rise up, yet. Alcaraz will win it in three physical sets.

Matt’s yesterday picks at Wimbledon

Andrey Rublev over Alexander Bublik
Iga Swiatek over Belinda Bencic
Novak Djokovic over Hubert Hurkacz
Elina Svitolina over Victoria Azarenka

Matt’s picks from Wimbledon

7 out of 9. 77.7% correct