No matter the size of the draw, big or small, Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic have somehow made a habit of squaring off at tournaments this year.

After playing each other in the Australian Open and Indian Wells fourth rounds, the pair will meet for a third time in four months, this time for a place in the quarter-finals at the Mutua Madrid Open.  

They’ve split their previous two encounters this season, and are 2-2 overall against each other. This will be their first showdown on clay though and Gauff is fancying her chances on the red dirt after falling to Bencic in three sets at Indian Wells last month.

“It will be an interesting one. I know she hits a little bit more flatter, and I hit heavier, so I would like to think it probably favours me a little bit more,” said Gauff of the challenge ahead of her.

“But obviously she beat me last time at Indian Wells, and she’s a tough opponent, so it’s going to be a tough match.”

Gauff and Bencic had very different routes to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica. The fourth-seeded Gauff needed a mere 66 minutes to move past her fellow American Ann Li 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday.

Bencic on the other hand survived a three-hour tug-of-war with Brazilian lefty Beatriz Haddad Maia before coming through 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2).

The Swiss Olympic gold medallist was a 0-3 double-break down in the deciding set, and wiped 1-4 deficit before storming into the round of 16 for the fourth time in her last four appearances at the tournament.

Bencic’s white match kit was covered in clay, perhaps an accurate depiction of just how hard she had to fight to overcome Haddad Maia.

“It was crazy. I always feel like with Bia it’s a very tough match and I was expecting that we share a big fight and for me she’s very uncomfortable to play against,” said Bencic, who returned from maternity leave at the end of last year and is already a titlist and back to No.42 in the world.

“I think me for her also, and also in practices, we always have great practices. It was crazy and just I think we were fighting. I saw her fighting so I was like, I need to fight more than her to beat her.”

Bencic won the French Open junior title back in 2013 but doesn’t feel the most comfortable on clay compared to other surfaces.

“It’s been a long journey. I know people use that argument against me, but I just feel like that’s very, very different,” the 28-year-old says when she’s reminded of her junior success on clay.

“It’s funny that it started that way, but obviously it’s taken a long time to improve. Obviously I love to play here because I feel here the courts are very hard and the clay is very fine, so it’s like not so many bad bounces, you can move pretty good. You’re not like sliding away. Yeah, it’s just about finding the best effect of your game on the surface.”

Gauff is a natural on clay and carried over her success from juniors into her pro career, reaching the Roland-Garros final in 2022.

After a tough opener against Dayana Yastremska two days prior, Gauff had a stress-free third round against Li, and appears to be enjoying her time so far in Madrid, where she’s had a fun, yet unusual, fan encounter.

“I think like two years ago, she (a fan) asked me to sign her arm and she said she was going to get it tattooed and I didn’t believe her. And then I saw her here and she actually got it tattooed, so that’s pretty insane to me,” said Gauff in her on-court interview on Saturday.

“I think there’s another person also that’s got me tattooed, not in Madrid. So it’s weird that two people have me on their body. But I love the Madrid fans, especially this tournament always brings out a lot of kids. I just like to play in front of everyone, but especially kids.”