BREAKING NEWS
John McEnroe tells Iga Swiatek why she should fear Coco Gauff at Wimbledon
John McEnroe has shared his take on Wimbledon favorites and that includes Coco Gauff potentially making a big breakthrough against Iga Swiatek.
After winning the French Open and concluding the clay season by winning three consecutive titles, Swiatek opted to rest and not play any tournaments leading up to Wimbledon. While there are some questions that Swiatek needs to answer on grass, no one is taking her Wimbledon chances for granted because she has proved many times over the last two years that she is one of the best when it comes to figuring out things.
Meanwhile, Gauff will enter Wimbledon with three strong Grand Slam results in a row and certainly feeling about her chances of making another great run. But the 2023 US Open champion still has one issue – she has yet to find a winning formula against Swiatek.
After losing to Swiatek at the Rome Open and French Open last week, Gauff fell to a 1-11 record in their head-to-head. But neither of those 12 meetings came on grass. And in McEnroe’s mind, Gauff would definitely have a much bigger shot at beating Swiatek if they met on the fastest tennis surface.
“Coco Gauff is a great player. She’s got the major and knows how to play on the grass. She’s more comfortable on it than Iga Swiatek is. That doesn’t mean Iga isn’t going to figure something out, but she’s more vulnerable on grass than any other surface. It opens the door for some other players,” McEnroe said.
After mentioning Gauff and naming her a favorite, McEnroe also noted that players like Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka are always a big threat on grass with their aggressive styles of play.
Elena Rybakina, the way she plays, it suits her game more and it’s the same for Aryna Sabalenka, they are big hitters. It’ll be interesting to see what Naomi Osaka can do on the grass. The door is open, for sure.”