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As the Wuhan Open inches toward its end, players have outdone themselves. Coco Gauff, especially, turned heads as she stormed into the semifinals after taking down Laura Siegemund in a quick 6-3, 6-0 on Friday. But in doing so, she also brought herself alongside the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, who did something similar in the past three seasons.

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Right now, Sabalenka and Gauff are the top seeds at the tournament after Swiatek’s streak ended against Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals on Friday. But Tennis Bakery on X spotted something fun! True to its name, the account noted that all three of these top players delivered 20-plus sets of 6-0 or 6-1 in each of the last three seasons. However, things weren’t as easy for her in reality as it looks on paper.

After the French Open, she struggled to find rhythm. Early exits piled up, including a heartbreaking first-round loss at Wimbledon. It shook her confidence and even pushed her to make changes in her team. But now the American has found her spark again. Let’s see how their “bakery stats” stack up over the last three years.

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Gauff’s 2025 highlights include two bagels against Sofia Kenin at the Miami Open (6-0, 6-0), double breadsticks over Ella Seidel in Stuttgart (6-1, 6-1), and two more breadsticks versus Swiatek in the Madrid semifinals (6-1, 6-1). She also baked a bagel against Ekaterina  Alexandrova (6-0, 7-5) at the Roland Garros and a breadstick against Lois Boisson (6-1, 6-2) in the same tournament. In Wuhan, she served both a breadstick and a bagel to Moyuka Uchijima (6-1, 6-0), then a clean bagel to Laura Siegemund (6-3, 6-0). Earlier in the season, Gauff also opened the United Cup semifinal with a 6-1 set against Karolina Muchova, proving her form travels across surfaces and stages.

As per reports, Coco Gauff recorded 12 6-0s and 22 6-1s in 2024. But what about her rivals?

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Well, Iga Swiatek’s bakery is always booming, and she remains the undisputed queen of bagels and breadsticks. Her wildest and perhaps most iconic one came at Wimbledon, crushing Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in only 57 minutes. She even made history, the first since Steffi Graf and Monica Seles (1991‑1992) to reel off 20-plus 6-0 sets in consecutive seasons. She ruled 2022 and 2023 with calm precision and cold dominance.

The bakery craze began during her record 37-match winning streak in 2022 and hasn’t cooled since. In 2023, Swiatek served a bagel in 29% of her matches. In fact, her season-total 23 bagels were 15 more than Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff coming in at second-highest.

Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, runs her own fierce bakery just down the street. In the 2025 Indian Wells semifinals, she destroyed  Madison Keys 6-0, 6-1 with her explosive power in the semi-finals. Her 2024 season brought the same stormy scorelines. At Brisbane, she bageled Lucia Bronzetti (6-3, 6-0) in the second round, then rolled past  Ella Seidel 6-0, 6-1 at the Australian Open. The showstopper came in round three, double bagels over Lesia Tsurenko, 6-0, 6-0.

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So, if Swiatek runs the original bakery, Sabalenka might just be the firebrand rival chef giving her serious heat. And now Gauff is joining the competition. The WTA Tour is sizzling, no doubt about that. But even as their scorelines rise, these players have also received a warning from a former pro.

Coco Gauff, Swiatek and Sabalenka warned of an incoming threat

During the October 7 episode of the Nothing Major podcast, ex-ATP stars John Isner, Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, and Steve Johnson were discussing the latest tennis buzz. When Amanda Anisimova’s name came up, Querrey couldn’t stop raving about her. After all, the 24-year-old just dethroned her compatriot and two-time Grand Slam champ Coco Gauff from the third spot in the rankings. She didn’t just beat her, she dismantled her in the China Open semifinals before taking the title against Linda Noskova. Querrey was glowing as he said, “Sometimes I watch her play and I think she is the best player in the world.”

Querrey didn’t stop there. He went on to drop a bold prediction. “I know she is like the third best. But there’s a lot of times when I am watching her the last few months, I am like, ‘The eye test tells me she is No. 1,” he said, adding, “There is a good chance she gets there (No. 1) in the next 12 months if she keeps playing how she is playing.” Coming from a former top American, that’s high praise. And it’s hard to argue when you look at Anisimova’s run this season.

She’s the only WTA player this year who’s defeated all three of the top-ranked women. At Wimbledon, she stunned World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. Then at the US Open, she turned the tables on World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who had double-bageled her in their previous meeting at Wimbledon. Anisimova took her out in the quarters before crushing Gauff (then No. 3) in Beijing. That surge pushed her past Gauff in the live rankings, making her the new World No. 3 with 5,908 points, compared to Gauff’s 5,574. The official list still shows her fourth, but only just. Swiatek remains in second by a large margin with 8,553 points.

Meanwhile, Swiatek may be out of the Wuhan Open, but she still stands firm at the top of the WTA Finals ladder with plenty of cushion. Sabalenka, however, is still very much in the chase. If she and Gauff can keep their momentum and make the final, we could see a blockbuster showdown between them.

Up next, though, she faces Jasmine Paolini! A tough opponent who’s beaten her in all three meetings this year. Can Coco Gauff flip the script this time and reach her third final of the season? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

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