Coco Gauff has a metaphoric mountain to scale if she hopes to return to the Roland Garros semifinals for the second straight year.
She lines up against defending champion Iga Swiatek, whose performances in 2023 have elevated her statistical history to such a point she’s now one of the most dominant players to ever compete at the tournament.
That dominance extends to her match-up against Gauff.
Swiatek beat the young American for the loss of just four games in last year’s final, a match serving as a microcosm of their overall head-to-head series.
Swiatek leads it 6-0, winning all 12 sets they’ve played.
Yet Gauff is one of the game’s great fighters, and does not shy away from a challenge. Still just 19 years of age, she has plenty of room to gather experience and improve technically.
Already, she believes this transformation is underway.
The sixth seed discussed being more assertive on return – something she has honed during her many doubles matches with fellow top-10 star Jessica Pegula – and also feels her weaker forehand wing is increasingly potent.
“Honestly, since last year I have been wanting to play her, especially at this tournament,” Gauff said of Swiatek.
“I figured that it was going to happen, because I figured I was going to do well and she was going to do well.
“I'm the type of mentality if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. I think also if you want to improve, you have to play the best.
“I think it would be almost cowardly to say that I want to not face the noise and not face the challenge, but I think that I'm up for it. I have improved a lot since last year, and she has too.
“I think it would be a great battle for us and for the fans too.”
Nevertheless, Gauff will face a sharp increase in the degree of difficulty when she steps onto Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday.
Yet to face a top-50 player this year in Paris, she will go from a fourth-round match against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, the world No.100, to a quarterfinal against Swiatek, the world No.1.
READ MORE: Women's game benefitting from Swiatek effect
Not only that, but this is a world No.1 who is especially formidable at Roland Garros.
This is Swiatek’s fifth French campaign, and she has reached the second week each time. She is through to her fourth consecutive quarterfinal, and she hasn’t lost in Paris for two years.
She has won 22 of her past 23 matches here and is 25-2 overall, giving her the best Roland Garros winning percentage of any woman in the Open era besides Margaret Court.
92.6% - Only Margaret Court (95.2%) now has a higher winning ratio at Roland-Garros in the Open Era than Iga Swiatek (92.6%) - surpassing Chris Evert (92.3%). Park.#RolandGarros | @rolandgarros @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/yCwvNgUgfz
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 5, 2023
She seeks a third title in the French capital, something that would see her join illustrious names in Court, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Justine Henin and Serena Williams as three-time winners in the Open era.
And she’s dropped just nine games to get to this point, winning four sets 6-0.
SWIATEK v GAUFF: "I knew we were going to play in a Grand Slam final"
“In Roland Garros I always felt like I can do a lot,” said Swiatek, after improving her 2023 record to 32-6.
“Even on my first Grand Slam here I went to a fourth round. So I don't want to take this like for granted … but I just feel pretty solid here.
“I'm happy that I'm in a quarterfinal, and every year I'm gonna do my best to always reach these stages or even more so.”
Gauff, impressively, is also becoming a quarterfinal mainstay in Paris; she has reached this stage of the tournament for three consecutive years.
She might have a mountain to climb against Swiatek, but the teenager does not want to stop here.
“I will rewatch some previous matches to see where I've gone wrong,” Gauff smiled.
“(But) I mean, it's in the past… I don't want to make (reaching the 2022) final my biggest accomplishment, I guess.
“I want to keep moving forward and keep reaching further heights.”