Baptiste faces Gauff with growing belief at 2026 Australian Open
For the first time in her young career, American Hailey Baptiste competed in the singles main draw at all four majors in the same season last year. The 24-year-old also made her Top 50 debut in 2025, a campaign highlighted by her fourth-round run at Roland Garros.
The product of Washington, D.C., is enjoying more success on the Grand Slam stage at the 2026 Australian Open, where she will face compatriot Coco Gauff in the third round.
"I feel like I've been able to just control my nerves a bit better the last year or so," said Baptiste, who is 8-3 at the majors since the start of the French Open. "Obviously having the results gives you the belief that you can continue to do it again and again.
"Obviously my goals change now. I've gotten to the second week of a Slam, so now I'm trying to just push beyond that every time I get into these events. You know, try to go deeper and deeper each time."
Baptiste won a three-setter against fellow American Taylor Townsend in the Melbourne opening round and cruised past Aussie Storm Hunter in the second round to set up her second career meeting with Gauff. Their previous matchup came in 2023, when Gauff scored a 6-1, 6-4 win at Baptiste's home tournament in Washington.
"We grew up together," Baptiste said of her opponent. "Obviously she's at the top of the game right now. It's really exciting for me to be able to play somebody like that and take my shot and, you know, just play my game and go out there and try to win as I always do."
Hailey Baptiste is into the Australian Open third round for the first time. Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images.
Gauff is expecting a different matchup compared to their D.C. meeting, but the 20-year-old still feels the same pride in sharing the spotlight with her countrywoman.
"I'm really excited to play her. I have known her for so long. It's always great to see people you come up with do well on the tour and be able to face them in these big matches," Gauff said.
"I'm looking forward to it, and it won't be easy, but at the end, I'm just proud of us to both make it at this stage. I don't even remember the first time I met her. Had to be, like, 10 or 11 years old, so it's just pretty cool."
While Gauff won the 2023 US Open one month after the pair's D.C. matchup, Baptiste did not compete in the main draw at any of the majors that season. Now a regular at the Slams, Baptiste has since grown into her aggressive and variety-filled game.
Baptiste is competing in the Australian Open main draw for the third time. Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images.
In addition to cracking the Top 50, she also made her Billie Jean King Cup debut last season, earning two singles wins to help the United States advance to the Finals. All the while, she's done it her way on the court.
"Tennis has always been somewhere where I'm expressing myself," she said, "and so coaches sometimes don't agree with the way that I play, or my shot selection, but I kind of just have the mindset of doing what I want on the court, like hitting the shots that I want even if it's a crazy shot or it makes zero sense. Sometimes that's what I want to do, and I do it."
At her best, Baptiste combines aggressive hitting with impressive touch, bringing a flair with her all-court game and mixing up her play with plenty of slices and net approaches. She spent her offseason between D.C. and Miami, focusing on her fitness, speed, consistency and her serve.
As she looks to build on the biggest year of her career, she now seeks the biggest win of her life against Gauff.
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