World number 1 Iga Swiatek is exactly where she expected to be, in the final. Now on a 32 match winning streak the 21-year-old from Poland is one more good match away from bagging her second Grand Slam. Coco Gauff, the 18-year-old American had never been beyond the fourth round of a Slam, until now. This is the classic hot favorite vs the underdog.

Why Gauff will win

Youthful exuberance must count for something and she hasn’t lost a set this tournament, albeit against lesser players than Swiatek, but it does show her game is firing and she has the athleticism to stay in the points. The question is can she match the consistent power of Iga. If she can there is a way to win this match, but everything will have to go her way. 

Why Swiatek will win

There is only one way Iga loses this match; she freezes, which is unlikely but not totally out of the question. I said this in the tournament preview, the longer these winning streaks go the closer they are to ending and this match will be the one she wants the most, which only adds to the pressure.

She listens to AC/DC before matches, which actually reflects her game, raw power. If the confidence she has doesn’t crack she’ll use that power to win. 

Prediction

Swiatek leads the head to head with Gauff 2-0 and is 8-1 overall in finals. All the signs point to her winning this French Open, but Slams have a funny way of messing with us, but only if Gauff can keep this match tight and she can cut out the double faults, the American has hit 33 this tournament, way too many.

She’s done well to get this far, it’s a big leap in her Grand Slam performances but so many thing have to go right for the young American to win this match, too many things for me.

Swiatek in straight sets.