US Open: Coco Gauff - The track and field athlete has to save women's tennis
Coco Gauff has had to deal with high expectations since beating Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019. At the US Open, these are naturally particularly high.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Aug 29, 2022, 12:48 am
By Jens Huiber of New York City
First of all, Coco Gauff has only won two tournaments in her career: 2019 in Linz, where the premiere triumph hung by a thread. Gauff made it into the main draw as a lucky loser in the last impression. The second title was in Parma 2021. Coco Gauff, it must also be said, despite this still modest yield, is the woman who has to save the WTA tour after Serena Williams left. Probably all alone. And it's not just the New York Times that sees it that way. Because tennis, like any other discipline, needs draft horses. And nobody has shaped a sport over decades almost single-handedly like Serena Williams.
The Times dedicated the cover story of its magazine to Coco Gauff yesterday, Sunday, tracing the teenager's career. And also the expectations that the US tennis public - no matter how large - has in mind. Tracy Austin, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles are cited as examples of players who, by the age of 17, already have a grand Slam tournament won. Coco Gauff will no longer be able to do that, even at the US Open 2022 she is not one of the biggest favorites.
In singles.
In doubles she has already made it to the absolute top of the world, also due to a partnership with Jessica Pegula that came about more or less by chance. Gauff was actually in doubles alongside Cathy McNally, but her singles career hasn't really got going yet. Which in turn means that McNally cannot take part in many tournaments in which Gauff is of course in the main draw.
The Gauff family with sporting genes
So why the hype? Anyone who meets Coco Gauff more often at press conferences will realize what distinguishes the current number twelve in the WTA charts. And stands out from most of her competitors, apart from the sporting talent. That charisma. That self-mockery. That curiosity. Basically, you leave every media appointment with the desire to learn a little more about Coco Gauff. Iga Swiatek may have dominated the scene in the first half of the year, but as a seller of her sport, the Pole cannot keep up with Coco Gauff.
Especially since everything is so beautifully illuminated in the life of 18-year-olds, as it is now in the New York Times. Father Corey Gauff played basketball at Georgia State University, mother Candi was a pretty strong heptathlete. So if there is such a thing as athletic genetic material: Coco Gauff has noticed it. Rock Macci, a coach who has worked with the Williams sisters, describes Coco Gauff as a "track star with a tennis racquet in his hand."
Emma Raducanu might help
At the age of ten, Gauff began to train at Patrick Mouratoglou's academy, at 14 she won the title in the junior competition in Roland Garros, in the final against Cathy McNally. With whom she still gets along wonderfully, even if Gauff admits that her social skills are not on the same level as her sporting ones. “I've been homeschooled since third grade. Sometimes I don't know how to establish social contacts in a normal way. ”Her friends would then confirm that she was doing well. But Gauff still feels self-doubt.
At the US Open 2022, Coco Gauff starts in twelfth place against the French qualifier Leolie Jeanjean. Not an easy task, Jeanjean showed strong tennis at Roland Garros this spring. Which doesn't get any easier because the organizers have packed Gauff into the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Incidentally, the woman who won the last professional tennis match there could be the only help for Coco Gauff when it comes to saving women's tennis. Because Emma Raducanu also sparkles with charisma, self-mockery and curiosity.
Here is the individual tableau at the US Open
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