Gauff, Swiatek collide in pivotal matchup

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Head-to-heads are pure history, and Coco Gauff’s record against Iga Swiatek is on the wrong side of it.

Let the record show that Gauff has lost 11 of 12 matches against the five-time Grand Slam champion. Swiatek hasn’t beaten anyone more. Of course, a large part of this can be attributed to age and stage. Gauff, 20, is a little over three years younger; when Swiatek was that age, like Gauff, she had only one major title to her credit

But when they meet on Tuesday in a critical Orange Group match at the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF, there are reasons to believe the result will be anything but automatic for Swiatek, who still hopes to wrest the year-end No.1 ranking away from Aryna Sabalenka.