Semi-finalists in 2024
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Coco Gauff
Best WTA ranking 2
- Country USA
- Age 20 years
- Size 1.75 m
- Jeu Right-handed, two-handed backhand
Distinguishing feature: Her real name is Cori, but everyone calls her "Coco". "Call me Coco" is even a T-shirt produced by her sponsor.
Profile and career
COCO GAUFF, THE NUGGET
Coco Gauff, discovered by Patrick Mouratoglou at the age of ten, is currently one of the best players in the world and was recently crowned champion at the WTA Finals 2024.
The American currently holds ten WTA titles, including a Grand Slam victory at the US Open in 2023, the WTA Finals 2024 and two WTA 1000 titles, Cincinnati in 2023 and Beijing in 2024. World number two in singles at her best, Coco Gauff is also a very good doubles player. She won the French Open in 2024 with Katerina Siniakova and was world number one in 2022.
At just 15, she became the youngest winner of a WTA tournament (Linz 2019) since Nicole Vaidosova in 2004. In 2019, she also became the youngest player to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon, where she beat Venus Williams in the first round before falling to Simona Halep in the last 16.
COCO GAUFF'S PRIZE LIST
Junior career
Coco Gauff reached the US Open junior final in 2017 when she was just 13 years old, a performance already considered phenomenal. The following year, still a beneficiary of Patrick Mouratoglou’s ChampSeed foundation, the American won the French Open junior tournament, beating her compatriot and doubles partner Catherine McNally in the final. At the age of 14, she became the fourth youngest player in history to win a Grand Slam title at junior level, behind Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and Gabriela Sabatini. She became world junior number one in 2018. She won the Orange Bowl the same year and finished the season ranked second in the world.
WTA career
The American won her first WTA tournament in Linz in 2019 in her first season as a professional. It was a victory that opened the door to a Top 100 ranking, which she has never relinquished since and which has seen her rapidly rise to the elite. With the exception of 2020, when the circuit was suspended for most of the year due to Covid, Coco Gauff has won at least one title every season since 2019.
In 2022, she reached a Grand Slam final for the first time in her career, at Roland Garros, where she lost to Iga Swiatek. The following year, in 2023, Coco Gauff won her first Grand Slam title in front of her home crowd at the US Open, beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Thanks to her good results, she was named flag bearer for the US delegation at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside LeBron James. She finished the year in style by winning the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, defeating Qinwen Zheng in the final after a tremendous battle.
WTA honours list
Coco Gauff has played in ten finals on the WTA Tour, winning nine of them. In Linz in 2019, the first title of her career, in Parma in 2021, in Auckland, Washington, Cincinnati and the US Open in 2023, her most prolific year, in Auckland, Beijing and Riyadh (WTA Finals) in 2024. Her only final loss was in 2022 at Roland Garros.
COCO GAUFF & THE GRAND SLAMS
Coco Gauff has reached the semi-finals in at least three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
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Finalist in 2022
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8th finalist in 2019, 2021 and 2024
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Victory in 2023
Statistics & records
- 20 Top 10 players beaten
- 18 the age at which she became the youngest Grand Slam finalist since Maria Sharapova
- 15 the age at which she became the youngest player to win a doubles title since Martina Hingis
Its link with the Mouratoglou Academy
Coco Gauff was spotted by Patrick Mouratoglou and his team at the age of 10. The American then joined the ChampSeed programme, a foundation that helps young talents who do not have the financial resources to reach the top level.
Gauff has made regular visits to the Mouratoglou Academy at various stages in her development, and every year she can be seen preparing for the French Open on the academy’s clay courts. Gauff was discreetly and personally supervised by Patrick Mouratoglou throughout the clay season in 2023, when the American player needed to regain her confidence before restructuring her technical staff.
GAME & EQUIPMENT
Her game
A highly athletic player, Coco Gauff is an outstanding defender, often forcing even the most phenomenal ball-strikers on the circuit to make one too many shots. That’s how she swung the 2023 US Open final against favourite Aryna Sabalenka.
Her best shot is the backhand, a stroke in which she has no weaknesses. It allows her to attack, defend, wear down and finish. Her stats on this shot are exceptional and she has virtually no rivals on the WTA Tour.
She also has an above-average volley on the women’s circuit, where most players stay at the back of the court.
In terms of technical profile, she’s somewhere between a pace player, capable of wearing down her opponent by accepting rallies, and a hard-hitter capable of attacking.
Finally, she is a multi-surface player who has hit the ground running on every type of court: hard (US Open victory), grass (first exploits at the age of 15), clay (Roland Garros final) and indoor (first WTA title).
Her equipment
Coco Gauff plays with a Head Boom MP 2022 racket.
Personal life
& interests
Coco Gauff was born into a sporting family. Her father played basketball for Georgia State University and her mother played athletics for Florida State University. The American was inspired by the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. Despite her young age, Coco Gauff does not hesitate to use her social networks to raise awareness of the causes that mobilise her, particularly anti-racism.
