Five years after Wimbledon breakthrough, Gauff where she wants to be

The world No 2 says she’s both surprised and content with her place near the very top of the women’s game

Imago / Panoramic

June 29, 2024

It’s now five years since Coco Gauff burst onto the world scene, the precocious 15-year-old upsetting Venus Williams in the first round at Wimbledon and going all the way to the last 16.

The brilliant young American took the world by storm that year, her performances and poise, on and off the court, suggesting that she was headed for the very top of the game.

Five years on and the 20-year-old is the world No 2 and a Grand Slam champion, having won the US Open last summer to break through again at the very top level.

Now, after reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne and at Roland-Garros, Gauff goes into Wimbledon, perhaps for the first time, as a legitimate threat to win the title. The time from 2019 to now, she said, was probably exactly as it was meant to be.

“I think I had high expectations at that age,” she said. “I still do. Obviously everybody has high expectations, especially when you’re on Tour at such a young age. Yeah, I think it would be both a surprise and satisfied with where I am right now.”

First-round loss at Wimbledon in 2023

Gauff hit No 2 in the rankings for the first time after her run in Paris, where only Iga Swiatek stopped her, in the semi-finals. It was another good Grand Slam performance, all the better for the fact that she went into the event with serving issues, the double faults racking up as she tried to make a technical change to her service motion. That she managed to cut them out in Paris was especially in Paris.

Gauff had high expectations last year at Wimbledon, only to be beaten in the first round by Sofia Kenin. This time, she said, she’s not getting ahead of herself.

“With Wimbledon, I’m really relaxed going into this year,” she said. “I did not have a great Wimbledon last year. It’s like it couldn’t get any worse, it can only get better or the same time.”

Response to disappointment

And the way she responded to that disappointment – hiring Brad Gilbert to join her coaching team and then winning Cincinnati and the US Open – proved again how resilient she is, how able she is to overcome low points to create new highs.

“Oh, man, I wish a year ago, me after that match could see me now,” she said. “That was a tough moment for me. I think the first two, three weeks after that, I was, like, really in a dark place. It was tough for me to realise I have so much time. When that happens you just feel the weight of everything on you.

“But I think I’ve just grown a lot. I’m glad I used that moment to just strive to get better. I still know I’m nowhere near where I can be. I think that experience taught me that a bad moment doesn’t last forever. That part of the season was tough, then the next part of the season was the best I’ve ever had. That just shows bad moments don’t last forever.”