Coco Gauff previously tried to gain a psychological advantage over Emma Raducanu before playing each other for the first time. Two of the WTA’s brightest talents squared off against one another for the first time at 2023’s first grand slam, the Australian Open.

After the American defeated Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-4 and the British No.1 at the time beat German star Tamara Korpatsch 6-3, 6-2 in the first round, their second-round encounter was set, which Gauff won 6-3, 7-6(4). Ahead of the contest, in comparison to herself, Gauff outlined how much pressure was now on Raducanu’s shoulders after her heroics at the 2021 US Open – which she won without dropping a set.

Obviously, she’s gone through a lot of pressure, bursting onto the scene,” said Gauff, who was the World No.7 at the time. “And especially I feel like being from the UK, being the first British person to do something in a long time, probably is a lot more pressure than what I’m used to being an American.”

Raducanu was just 18 when she became the first qualifier to win the US Open title and in the process became the first British female major champion since Virginia Wade in 1977. She became an overnight superstar and was seen gracing the red carpet at the esteemed Met Gala just two days after winning her first major.

Gauff also shot to fame at a young age when she upset Venus Williams in the Wimbledon first round in 2019 – at the age of just 15. Following Raducanu’s triumph at Flushing Meadows Gauff advised her fellow player to limit her time on social media due to the meteoric rise in fame and added scrutiny.

I would say the best thing I would give her [Raducanu], which I’m sure she’s probably heard of, is just make sure you set time aside from the phone,” Gauff said. “It is exciting when you [are] getting all the retweets and the follows and all of that, but it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes.

At least with my experience with it. I think that and that’s probably what I would have wished I would have known then – not to focus on social media.” Almost a year after their first meeting, the pair’s careers have gone in two very different directions.

Gauff’s 2023 campaign was the best of her career so far. She captured four titles, including the US Open, and reached a career-high ranking of No.3. The Bromley local on the other hand, struggled with a wrist injury and has not played since April. In May, the 21-year-old ended her season after undergoing surgery on her ankle and both wrists.

After months on the sidelines, Raducanu is set to return at the ASB Classic in Auckland in January, where Gauff is the defending champion. There is a chance that the players could face one another and contest the second match of what many expect to be one of the top rivalries in women’s tennis moving forward.

With Raducanu due to begin her 2024 season in New Zealand, when speaking to the BBC in September, she made it clear which grand slam she wants to win next. “One hundred percent Wimbledon is the dream,” she said. “It always has been growing up. My ultimate dream still is, and always has been, to win Wimbledon.”