"Like a Walmart version of Rafa" - Coco Gauff rates herself as a worse version of Rafael Nadal

Coco Gauff has proved in recent times that she is a handy player on clay. While this is the case, she was quick to rebuff claims that she was in the same discussion as Rafael Nadal after her 7-5, 6-1 win over Liudmila Samsonova at the Stuttgart Open.

The 22-year-old fell 3-0 behind in the early stages but kept her cool and found a route back into the match. The Russian broke and looked likely to serve it out but Gauff came charging back. She prevented this threat before nicking another break right at the end of the set to put her into the lead.

The American then rapidly raced away. She ominously sailed into a 4-0 lead while dropping two points in the process. She defended a brace of break points to go five clear and one of glory. She could not confirm the bagel but not to worry as she took her first match point and blasted into the quarterfinals.

Gauff has a telling playstyle on clay. When asked about who she models her game around on the surface, there was really only one obvious answer. "The greatest clay court player is Rafa,” she said with a smile after her first clay court win in 2026. While she does try and play in a similar manner to the 14-time French Open champion, that is not always the case. ”I don’t quite play like him but I do try to hit my forehand like he does on clay. I don’t run around as much because my forehand isn’t as good as Rafa. But I do try to hit it like him."

She was then described as a right-handed version of Nadal. This was something that she did not get behind, labelling herself as something different. "Like a Walmart version of Rafa. I don’t want to be obliterated online. Like a lesser version of Rafa.”

There is a reason for these comparisons. Last year Gauff was supreme on this surface. She reached a brace of WTA 1000 finals at the Madrid Open and Rome Open, losing respectively against Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini. She would then double her Grand Slam tally at Roland Garros, inflicting revenge on the world number one in a fine showing in Paris.

Despite the recent success, the bond between Gauff and clay is kind of mixed and complicated. "It’s a surface which I love and hate,” Gauff admitted. "Today there were some points where I hated it and some points where I loved it, but obviously I have a lot of success on clay, so I definitely think it’s a surface that suits my playing style."

She noted the sliding as something that could be interpreted as a but erratic or uncertain, while favouring a hard court in terms of movement. "I like cutting and changing direction more on hard courts, the sliding can be a little bit unpredictable sometimes. It’s fun when you hit some good ones but it’s also not fun when you are falling on the ground."

From one Roland Garros finalist to another. Karolina Muchova is the only player to get a set off Iga Swiatek in a Grand Slam final, let alone that being on clay in her most dominant streak. She has risen to new heights in 2026, finally finding some consistency on court which has seen her pick up the Qatar Open title.

Her form has been so consistent that she has only lost four tennis matches, those coming against Sabalenka, Swiatek and twice against Gauff. This bodes well for their quarterfinal matchup, with the Czech not fairing well against the best in the world. Six times they have faced off and six times Gauff leaves the triumphant.

On paper the record indicates she is the favourite, but tennis does not work like that. "It’s pro sports, anybody can win on any day," she commented. "Obviously you take what you did well in the last matches and try to do it again, but like I said, anything can happen. She’s a great player. She’s a great clay-court player too. So I don’t take any of those matches into account. I just try to focus on the goals I have for tomorrow and hopefully I can come out with the win.”

After Sabalenka withdrew from the tournament, Gauff is now the number two seed. She comes into it in great momentum having reached the final of the Miami Open to conclude the Sunshine swing. A lot of points are on the line, and a ranking drop is possible if she cannot tame the European clay over the next couple of months.