Coco Gauff continues to thrive at Roland Garros, and is becoming more of a Grand Slam force with every passing tournament.

Since winning last year’s US Open, she has backed that up with semifinal runs at the Australian Open and this fortnight in Paris – becoming the youngest player to reach three straight major semifinals since Maria Sharapova 17 years ago.

But perhaps an even greater achievement would be overcoming the dominant Iga Swiatek at the world No.1’s very best tournament.

Gauff made their semifinal meeting possible with a gritty, three-set victory over resurgent Tunisian Ons Jabeur on Tuesday. Swiatek then brushed aside reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-0 6-2 to book another date with Gauff.

Swiatek, going for her fourth title in the past five editions of Roland Garros, noted the changes she’d seen in her young rival.

“I think her mental game is a little bit better, and before it was kind of easier to ‘crack her’, I would say, when you were leading,” Swiatek said.

“But it’s normal that she’s making progress. She’s at that age that everything goes pretty nicely that if you’re working hard, then you will get a progress.

“Probably every aspect of her game is a little bit better, because, yeah, it’s different being a teenager on the tour and then being a more mature player.”

It is apt to call this a rivalry, because Gauff and Swiatek compete for the same space at the top of women’s tennis.

Both are current major titleholders – Swiatek in Paris, Gauff in New York – and both are in the top five when it comes to ranking the world’s highest-paid female athletes. They’re considered the two best movers on tour and are both at their best on clay, although both have succeeded at the highest levels on hard courts, too.

Gauff, who turned 20 in March, rose to world No.3 with her breakthrough at Flushing Meadows, and is projected to become the new world No.2 following Aryna Sabalenka’s shock quarterfinal defeat on Wednesday.

She is attempting to close the gap on Swiatek, who is spending her 106th week at the summit.

Iga Swiatek (L) and Coco Gauff at the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun. [Getty Images]

But when it comes to the head-to-head series, Swiatek dominates.

Incredibly, they have already played 11 times in just three years – another essential ingredient in a great rivalry is regular meetings between two players at the top – but Swiatek has won 10 of them.

This is the third consecutive year they will clash at Roland Garros, after the 2022 final and last year’s quarterfinals.

Swiatek won both those encounters in straight sets.

“I think you just get older and learn how to handle the pressures a little bit more,” said Gauff, who has reached at least the quarterfinal stage at Roland Garros each of the past four years.

“When I played her in Cincinnati, I didn’t go into the match thinking, ‘oh, I’ve never beaten her before’… I have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on her.”

Coco Gauff on facing Iga Swiatek

“I think she’s playing great tennis here, so it’s going to be a challenge, but I’m going to go into the match with a lot of belief that I can.”

That belief is no doubt boosted by the fact she has done it before; Gauff overcame Swiatek in last year’s Cincinnati WTA 1000 semifinals, en route to winning what was then the biggest title of her career.

Dating back to the beginning of that fruitful North American summer, Gauff has won 54 of her past 66 matches – a success rate of almost 82 per cent.

“When I played her in Cincinnati, I didn’t go into the match thinking, ‘oh, I’ve never beaten her before, never taken a set off of her’,” Gauff said.

“Maybe I could lose with the same score, maybe not, but I’m just going to go in and just try to win.

“I have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on her.”

However, since saving a match point to survive Naomi Osaka’s second-round challenge, Swiatek is playing with the freedom of someone grateful to still have a shot at the title.

She has dropped a total of just eight games in her subsequent three matches; half of those six sets she has won 6-0.

The Polish star has also won her past 17 clay-court matches, and is on a 19-match winning streak in Paris.

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“I remember last year was really stressful for me, so every match was, like, kind of like a relief,” reflected Swiatek, who is targeting a third consecutive Roland Garros title.

“Now I’m enjoying it more, and I have more satisfaction from just playing my game.”

If Gauff can stop Swiatek in this sort of free-wheeling form on Thursday, and reach another Grand Slam final, it would mark one of her finest achievements yet.