2023 US Open : Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff Slated For Cincinnati Rematch In Quarterfinal

The 2023 US Open women’s draw has been revealed and puts world No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek on a quarterfinal collision course with American superstar Coco Gauff.

The duo faced off at the Western & Southern Open only last week, when the 19-year-old Gauff defeated Swiatek for the first time in eight tries en route to winning the biggest title of young career.

Buoyed by the coaching team of Pere Riba and Brad Gilbert, Gauff comes to her home Slam with plenty of momentum as she looks to better the quarterfinal finish she achieved in 2022.

To get there, the No. 6 seed will open against a qualifier, and possibly encounter Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in the second round. Andreeva pushed Gauff to three sets at Roland Garros back in June.

As for Swiatek, she will begin her title defense against Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson, with No. 29 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto her projected third-round opponent. The big-hitting Jelena Ostapenko also looms in Swiatek’s section of the draw; the 2017 Roland Garros champion will take on Jasmine Paolini in the first round with a potentially dramatic second round against Alizé Cornet up next.

The top half of the draw projects a semifinal clash between Swiatek and No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, who saw her Wimbledon title defense end in the quarterfinals at the hands of eventual finalist Ons Jabeur. Rybakina, who has dealt with illness and injury since winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia earlier this spring, will play an intriguing first round against Marta Kostyuk, and is projected to face No. 30 seed Sorana Cirstea in the third round.

Other notable seeds in the second quarter include three-time finalist Victoria Azarenka, Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova, and No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari, Rybakina’s projected quarterfinal opponent.

The bottom half of the draw is anchored by reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who lost a titanic semifinal to Swiatek in Flushing Meadows last summer. The world No. 2 will play her first round against Maryna Zanevska of Belgium, with a US Open quarterfinal rematch projected between Sabalenka and former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in the third round.

Another big-time rivalry could be renewed in the quarterfinals should Sabalenka and Jabeur both reach the last eight; Sabalenka avenged her Wimbledon defeat to the Tunisian in Cincinnati last week.

Sabalenka’s projected semifinal opponent is No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula who, with Gauff, swept the WTA tour’s biggest hard-court tournaments of the summer when she captured her second WTA 1000 victory at the Omnium Banque National. Pegula has the unenviable task of facing the always-dangerous Camila Giorgi in the first round, and could face Wimbledon semifinalist Elina Svitolina before the second week.