It is well known that, Coco Gauff is on a high these days, after her recent success in the U.S. leg of the WTA tour. It yielded a WTA1000 title at Cincinnati and she went all the way in the U.S. Open to clinch the first Grand Slam title of her career. Needless to say, accolades have been pouring in for her success on the tour, and the way things are panning out, seems like Gauff isn’t looking like relenting anytime soon.
Coco is currently competing in the China Open where she is riding on her recent bane of form in splendid fashion. She defeated Russian, Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets to progress to the last eight of the event. This meant that she had won her 15th match on the trot, continuing from her title wins at the Cincinnati Open and U.S. Open.
15 – Coco Gauff now has won 15 consecutive matches in the WTA during 2023, she now has the longest winning streak of this year eclipsing Iga Swiatek’s 14 match winning run between Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Form. #ChinaOpen | @ChinaOpen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/MXH1dqSSRz
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) October 5, 2023
What this run effectively means is that she has overtaken Iga Swiatek‘s record of most consecutive wins on tour in 2023. Previously, the record stood at 14 wins when Iga had a winning run earlier this year. The streak extended through her triumph at Roland-Garros and reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Elina Svitolina.
Coco Gauff exudes flair and the results speak volumes about it
The flair in the game of Coco Gauff is quite evident these days after her recent victories. But she isn’t taking things lightly. As Coco stated, “The end of this season for me, especially once you’re qualified [for the WTA Finals], I consider it bonus matches. That’s why the first two matches, I think I was disappointed in the way that I was playing..”, thus emphasizing the fact that she should have played a lot freely.
{Credits – Tennis365, New York Magazine}
But it was different in the Round of 16 match at Beijing, as Gauff herself puts it, “Today I was telling myself try to hit above 110, 115 as much as I could, be more aggressive….” She went on to say that, with the Grand Slam season coming to an end and with her already qualified for the WTA Finals, it would be great for her to work on a few aspects of her game that needed fine-tuning.
With every passing match, the credentials of Coco Gauff seem to be on the rise. She has all the attributes to bring in more audience to watch the sport. The U.S. Open served as a clear indicator with the Women’s final garnering more audience than that of the Men’s final. Former Grand Slam Champion, Maria Sharapova was of high praise for Coco, deeming her to be having the powers to transcend the sport.
Maria Sharapova on Coco Gauff:
“I have been saying for years that I think she has the ability to transcend the sport into so many [areas], bridging entertainment, sport and culture, and fashion”
“She has such a great voice and is an amazing competitor, which is just like the… pic.twitter.com/bi1RDVHsXH
— Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) September 28, 2023
Thereby, one can safely conclude that Coco Gauff is champion material without a shadow of a doubt. Now, she has got to maintain a firm footing and deal with her success in the appropriate manner. Provided she does so, she is bound to go places, surpassing more records and reaching heights that most people could only dream of.
