SUMMARY
- Coco Gauff has been around the WTA tour since 2019.
- Gauff will be proud of her accomplishments during her teenage years.
Coco Gauff has been breaking records and setting new benchmarks on the WTA tour for a long time now. She started on the tour as an energetic teenager. Gauff has now officially completed her teenage years and is ready to embrace the challenges ahead as a young adult. She turned 20 on March 13 and continues to be one of the top players on the tour.
Gauff’s recent achievements on the tour are well-established. But she has been a force to be reckoned with since she started playing the sport. Her rise over the years has been so impressive that she could not spend much time on the junior’s tour. Gauff has a long way to go in the game and will be hoping to win her second title of the season soon.
Coco Gauff and her journey on the juniors tour
Gauff played her first professional match in 2017 as a wildcard at the Nike Junior International in Roehampton. She won her first match against Esther Adeshina and only lost three games in the match. In the second round, Gauff lost to Carson Branstine in straight sets. The grass court event showed the fans the first glimpse of the future star.
A week after Gauff’s short stint at Roehampton, she lost in the second-round qualifying match at Wimbledon Juniors. The defeat did not put down her hopes as she went on to win six consecutive matches for Team USA at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals. USA went on to win the title as Gauff recorded four bagels in the event, including one in the final.
Gauff then went on to reach the finals at the Prince George’s County International Hard Court Junior Tennis Championships. A few days later, she made her debut in the main draw of the grand slam at the US Open Juniors. Gauff reached the final and lost to Amanda Anisimova. She received the first bagel of her career as Anisimova only conceded two games in the final.
The young American made her breakthrough in the juniors in 2018. She had lost in the opening round of the Australian Open juniors but bounced back soon after at the French Open juniors. Gauff only dropped a set on her way to win her first Grand Slam juniors title. She then lifted the trophy at Roehampton, where she had made her debut in 2017.
Congrats to Coco Gauff who becomes the youngest ever junior world No. 1 according to the ITF! 💪🏽 She reaches this achievement at the age of 14 yrs 4 mos! 👏🏽 – Pic from the ITF Tennis IG page pic.twitter.com/imsigyz5Jt
— Chad (@CCSMOOTH13) July 17, 2018
Gauff reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and US Open juniors in 2018. The then 14-year-old won the doubles title at the US Open with Caty McNally. She then led the USA team to victory at the Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals, winning five of her six singles matches. Gauff’s final junior event was the Orange Bowl, where she lifted the trophy. She was ranked No.1 in the juniors in the 2018 season.
Coco Gauff’s short stint with ITF tour leading to WTA debut
While Gauff was busy thrashing her junior opponents on the court, she made time to make her debut at the ITF tour. Gauff reached the second round at Osprey, Florida, as a qualifier in May 2018. In her first event on the senior tour, Gauff earned $392 and also gained six ranking points. She recorded a similar performance at the next event in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The former junior world No.1 lost in the first round of qualifying at the 2018 US Open. She lost to Heather Watson and received a paycheck of $8,000. While Gauff’s journey came to an end on the juniors, it sure looked the same on the ITF tour. She reached the finals at Surprise, Arizona, in 2019 and lost to Sesil Karatantcheva.
Coco Gauff wins her second ITF title of the year today in Roehampton. Beats Caty McNally 6-2, 6-3. Up next: #Wimbledon Juniors
– Pic from Patrick Mouratoglou’s IG page pic.twitter.com/dne7JbTr1D— Chad (@CCSMOOTH13) July 6, 2018
Gauff was ranked No.999 in May 2018 and was ranked No.454 by the end of February 2019. She made her WTA tour debut at the Oracle Challenger Series as a wildcard and lost in the opening round. Gauff then received a wildcard at the Miami Open WTA 1000 and reached the second round while losing to Daria Kasatkina.
Gauff again tried her luck at the grand slams at the French Open. She lost in the second round of qualifying to Kaja Juvan. Gauff was eager to make her debut on the grand slam stage. She could not qualify in her first two attempts. But her first big hit was soon about to take place in Britain. The grass courts were ready for Gauff as it was the same two years back at Roehampton.
Coco Gauff announces her arrival on the WTA tour by defeating idol Venus Williams
The 2019 Wimbledon was Gauff’s first major announcement on the WTA tour. She did not drop a set in the first three rounds of qualifying. Gauff made her debut at the Grand Slams and was set to face Venus Williams in the first round. Venus had made her grand slam debut in 1997 at the French Open as a 17-year-old and had lost in the first round to Nathalie Tauziat, who was 29 years old at that time.
Gauff was 15 years old when she faced her idol on the court in the oldest grand slam in the sport. She was the youngest player to make the main draw at the event. Gauff defeated Venus in straight sets as the fans found a new star in the making. The baton was passed at the courts of Wimbledon as Gauff went on to reach the fourth round while losing to Simona Halep.
After an amazing run, Coco Gauff loses to No. 7 Simona Halep.
Her #Wimbledon recap:
– The youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon in the Open era
– Beat her idol Venus Williams
– Put together an incredible comeback in the third round
– Advanced to the round of 1615 years old. pic.twitter.com/hXPYgHW5AG
— Andscape (@andscape) July 8, 2019
The Wimbledon winning streak ensured a majestic drop in the rankings for Gauff. She was ranked No.313 at the beginning of July. A month later, she was No.146. Gauff then made her debut at the US Open and reached the third round, where she was defeated by Naomi Osaka. In the very next event, Gauff was in luck as she secured a record that had not been seen on the WTA tour since 2004.
Gauff entered the main draw of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz as a lucky loser. She defeated the then world No.8 Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals for her first top-ten win. Gauff reached the finals and defeated Jelena Ostapenko in the final. The 15-year-old was the youngest tour winner since Nicole Vaidisova. Vaidisova was 37 days younger than Gauff when she won in Tashkent in 2004.
Coco Gauff’s rise to the top of the rankings
The 2020 season saw Gauff making her debut at the Australian Open, where she reached the fourth round. She then reached the semifinals at Lexington, which marked her entry into the top 50 of the rankings. But she soon exited the top 50 as Gauff appeared in five more events for the rest of the year. In the 2021 season, she played 17 events.
Gauff reached the quarterfinals of a grand slam for the first time at the French Open in 2021. She lost to eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets. By the end of the season, she cracked the top 20 in rankings. In the 2022 season, Gauff played 22 events and was passing by multiple milestones over the year. The Delray beach-born player made history at the 2022 French Open.
Gauff had won 14 matches in five months before the French Open. She did not drop a set on the way to the finals. She became the youngest player on the WTA to reach a grand slam final since Maria Sharapova in 2004 at Wimbledon. Gauff lost in the final against Iga Swiatek in straight sets. She next lost in the quarterfinals at the US Open, which pushed her into the top ten in the rankings.
The 18-year-old became the youngest player since 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova in 2006 to enter the top ten of the rankings. Gauff also became the youngest American on the WTA tour to enter the top ten since Serena Williams in 1999 when she was 17 years old. Along with her records in singles, Gauff had also reached the finals of the French Open doubles with Jessica Pegula.
Coco Gauff rewrites history in the 2023 season
Gauff started the 2023 season with her 100th singles victory during the Australian Open. She beat Emma Raducanu in the second round and lost in the fourth round at Melbourne. At the next grand slam, Gauff recorded her 100th doubles victory on the tour. She reached the semifinals of the French Open doubles while teaming up with Pegula.
The world No.6 reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in singles and again lost to Swiatek. Gauff ended her seven-match losing streak against the player during her first WTA 1000 title win at Cincinnati. The teenager went on a 16-match winning streak, which was the longest of the season. Gauff won her first WTA 500 title during the two-month winning streak.
The world No.3 went on to win her first grand slam title at the US Open. She became the third American teenager to win the women’s singles title in New York. Gauff spent 19 hours on the court as she had also reached the doubles quarterfinals at the US Open. But her endurance levels did not drop in any of the matches.
Gauff also made her debut at the WTA Finals and reached the finals while losing to her doubles partner, Pegula. The 20-year-old is now 11 wins away from capturing her 200th singles victory on the tour. Gauff has only started her career in the game and has many more records to break.
