Why Coco Gauff vs. Caroline Wozniacki is the must-see match of the US Open

NEW YORK — When Caroline Wozniacki announced in late June that she was returning to pro tennis more than three years and two pregnancies after playing her last match, she threw out the following teaser in Vogue magazine.

“Can I win the US Open? I think so,” she wrote. “Can I win the Australian Open? I think so. That’s why I’m doing this. And I guess we’ll see what happens.”

Beyond the natural confidence that every athlete has, those words from Wozniacki implied something more than just her ability to still play the game at age 33. They suggested that she had spent the last couple years watching this generation of women at the top of the sport and that she wasn’t particularly impressed.

Or, at the very least, she felt they were vulnerable enough to jump right back in and start contending for Grand Slam titles.

And we’re not going to have to wait very long to see if she was right.

On Sunday, Wozniacki is going to face Coco Gauff in what might be the most-watched and most-anticipated match of this US Open so far.

On one side, you have a true star of the Serena Williams era, one of the more popular players of the last decade who spent years chasing and challenging Williams and reaching world No. 1 for a stretch of time when it was not so easy to do that.

On the other side, you have the player that American fans have been waiting on for the last couple years to take that mantle in Gauff, who at age 19 is playing the best tennis of her life and looks ready to start breaking through at the Grand Slams.

Now she’s got to go through a legend in the round of 16. And if Wozniacki is the underdog, she’s not acting or playing like it at this US Open.

"Knowing what I've experienced throughout my career, I knew where I was at,” she said Friday after dispatching Jennifer Brady, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. “Obviously day by day I feel like I'm getting a little bit better. Would I have been surprised had I lost in the first round? No. Would I be surprised if I keep winning? Also no. I think it was just kind of a go out there, give it your best, fight your heart out. If I play my best tennis, I know I'm tough to beat. Someone really has to play well.”

And whether Gauff is up to the challenge will say a lot about where the WTA Tour is currently at.

Gauff, the No. 6 seed, survived Friday against No. 32 Elise Mertens, shaking off a rough first set to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-0. With a new coaching team that includes longtime pro/ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert, she has been a different player on the North American hard courts, playing with a lot more confidence and belief in tight moments.

But this will be a new experience for Gauff. She's facing someone 14 years older and far more accomplished, but Gauff will be coming into the match as the favorite and the player the New York crowds will get behind.

“It's going to be interesting,” Gauff said. "I never thought I would ever be in this position, especially after she retired and came back. But she's still like a really fit player. She looked like she was striking the ball today pretty clean, especially after I was watching her match the last couple sets against Jenny. I know a little bit of her just from watching her from growing up. It's going to be really cool. I'm really excited. Playing a legend like her is really exciting. I'm not going to take the moment for granted.”

When Wozniacki first retired at the Australian Open in 2020, her results were starting to go in the wrong direction. Part of that was due to her struggles with rheumatoid arthritis, which made it a real physical struggle just to get on the court.

She didn't pick up a racquet for a long time and planned to just play tennis recreationally and to stay in shape. But something changed earlier this year when she said she was hitting the ball as well as she ever had. With her physical issues more under control, it was understandable that she wanted to see how her game stacked up against the likes of Gauff and Iga Swiatek, who has won three of the last six Grand Slam titles.

As good as those players are, Wozniacki doesn’t see any Serenas among that group. Could it really be any more difficult to win Grand Slams now than it was back then?

“I think it's more the logistics than everything else,” she said with a laugh Friday when asked to identify the hardest thing about this comeback, referring to traveling with two kids and her husband, former NBA player David Lee.

Those kind of comments suggests Wozniacki isn’t fazed whatsoever by the competition she’s facing. And why would she be?

After a couple choppy matches in Montreal and Cincinnati to start her comeback, she has been completely in stride and under control through three matches at the US Open. Playing the same consistent brand of tennis that won her 30 WTA titles and an Australian Open, she has knocked out an old rival in No. 11 seed Petra Kvitova and a new one in Brady, who is also on the comeback trail after battling severe injuries over the last couple years.

By the end of the match against Brady, Wozniacki was the fitter player, which is an incredible credit to her given that she gave birth just 10 months ago. With another win or two, it’ll start to look an awful lot like Kim Clijsters, who came back after retirement and childbirth and won the US Open with just two tournaments under her belt.

“It's hard to expect perfection when you haven't played for a long time,” Wozniacki said. “That wasn't what I was expecting coming into the first two tournaments, and the reason why I wanted to play two tournaments leading into this. I wanted to hit my peak and feel comfortable coming here. One day I was like, ‘Wow, OK, I found that something.’ Now I just need to repeat that over and over again. There's something about coming back to New York, I felt at home, at ease.”

With everything she's accomplished and nothing to lose, Wozniacki should feel more at ease than any other player as this US Open reaches the second week. That makes her incredibly dangerous.

And it makes Sunday's match against Gauff one of the must-see matches of the entire year.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coco Gauff vs. Caroline Wozniacki will be must-watch match of US Open