Google News
Coco Gauff has joined Maria Sharapova in winning 10 consecutive matches at the Grand Slam level as a teenager in the 21st century.
Gauff, 19, defeated Alycia Parks 6-0 6-2 in the Australian Open third round for her 10th consecutive Slam win. Previously, Gauff won seven consecutive matches at the US Open, where she captured her maiden Grand Slam title.
Playing in her first Grand Slam since the US Open, Gauff started her Australian Open run with straight-set wins over Parks, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, and Caroline Dolehide. By winning 10 consecutive Grand Slam matches, Gauff became the fourth teenager in the 21st century to achieve such a feat.
Previously, that feat was achieved by Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Iga Swiatek. The last to do it before Gauff was Swiatek, who won the 2020 French Open - which was held in late September and early October that year - before also winning her opening three matches at the 2021 Australian Open.
Gauff aims back-to-back Grand Slam titles
After accomplishing her dream of becoming a Grand Slam champion at the US Open, Gauff underlined her next goal would be adding more Slam titles to her resume. So far at this year's Australian Open, Gauff has been playing well as she has safely reached the second week.
In the Australian Open round-of-16, Gauff plays against Magdalena Frech. When Gauff and Frech meet for the first time in Melbourne, the top-ranked American female tennis player will enter as the big favorite to beat the Pole ranked at No. 69 in the world.
Considering how Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka have been playing, they meeting in the Australian Open semifinal now seems a very likely scenario. If that happens, we would have a rematch of the 2023 US Open final at Melbourne Park.
In the Australian Open final, Gauff could potentially world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.