Wimbledon 2024: Where can Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff meet at the Grass Major?
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff will enter the 2024 Wimbledon as the top two seeds. Following the announcement of the 2024 Wimbledon draw on Friday (June 28), it became clear that the top two seeded players can only meet in the final as they have been placed in different halves of the draw.
Swiatek will be entering the 2024 Wimbledon on the back of a tremendous clay court season. The Pole won the titles at the Italian and Madrid Opens and then won her fifth Grand Slam at the French Open. She also won titles at Qatar and Indian Wells earlier in the year.
However, the 2024 Wimbledon draw is potentially a tricky one for Swiatek. The World No. 1 is slated to face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round. The Pole has a 2-0 record against the American, with their latest encounter having taken place at the Australian Open. Swiatek could then face Yulia Putintseva in the third round, someone who has been in good form on the grass, having won the Birmingham Classic.
The potential fourth-round match between Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko, against whom the world number one has never won a match out of four encounters, may prove to be the most difficult for Swiatek. In the later stages of the competition, Swiatek might face opponents like Ons Jabeur and Elena Rybakina.
On the other hand, Gauff has been having a mixed season. She has reached the semi-final stages of competitions including the Australian and the French Open, but she has only won one title so far this season. Gauff's only win came at the Auckland Open, where she defeated Elina Svitolina to claim her career's seventh title.
For Gauff, the Wimbledon draw is comparatively easier as she will face unseeded players in the first two rounds. In the fourth round, she faces either Naomi Osaka or Victoria Azarenka in what could be her first difficult match. This will potentially be followed by matches against Jasmine Paolini and Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter and semi-finals.
Wimbledon has been the weakest slam for both Swiatek and Gauff
Even though Swiatek leads Gauff 11-1 in their head-to-head, the pair have yet to play each other on grass. Statistically, Wimbledon has been the weakest slam for both players. Gauff's best result at the grass major has been a 4R appearance in 2021, where she lost to Angelique Kerber. She has a record of 8-4 at Wimbledon. Gauff is yet to win a title on grass in her career.
Like Gauff, Swiatek too is yet to win a title on grass. The Pole's best performance at Wimbledon came last year when she made it to the quarter-finals, losing to Elina Svitolina. Overall, she has a 9-4 record at Wimbledon.
Gauff is coming on the back of some valuable grass-court preparation, as she reached the semi-final of the Berlin Ladies Open, where she lost to Jessica Pegula in the semi-final. Swiatek, on the other hand, has not played a single match on grass in the 2024 season.