Women’s tennis has a new superstar, Coco Gauff managed to fulfill long-standing high expectations at the US Open and became a Grand Slam winner. According to Martina Navrátilová, not for the last time, the 19-year-old American is said to dramatically change the appearance of the world’s best in the near future.
While from the beginning of the year, experts talked about the establishment of the so-called “big three” consisting of the Polish Iga Šwiateková, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenková and the Kazakh Jelena Rybakinová, now Cori “Coco” Gauffová has turned her back on all the mentioned stars.
Four years after her first famous breakthrough to the Wimbledon round of 16, she has made the expected performance leap to the highest level, confirming what has been rumored about her since childhood: that she can be one of the biggest tennis personalities of this decade and the next.
Even Martina Navrátilová is already convinced of her exceptionality. “If she stays healthy, she will win double-digit Grand Slams,” the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion told Sky Sports.
Gauff has faced enormous pressure so far. Even as a teenager, she had to deal with unrealistic expectations after becoming the youngest singles player in Wimbledon history to advance from qualifying at 15 years and 122 days. Finally, in 2019, she made it to the top sixteen and unleashed “Cocomania” in London.
She continued to improve, got used to adult tennis and played her first Grand Slam final in 2022, but suffered a debacle from Iga Šwiateková in Paris. At the end of the year, she was already a player in the world’s top ten, the youngest since the then seventeen-year-old Nicole Vaidišová in 2006.
According to Navrátilová, she shook off an enormous mental burden with her first Grand Slam title.
“The pressure is off, she’s already a Grand Slam winner, she’s fulfilled expectations. She’ll take huge confidence from this. She’s just getting started,” said the former Czech-American champion, who also highlighted Gauff’s mature personality.
“She is a great role model for young children. She achieved something because she had a dream. She is one of those personalities who can really change something in the world for the better,” added Navrátilová.
According to her, the modern-day “big three has turned into a big four”.
Now former number one Šwiateková, current Sabalenková, winner of last year’s Wimbledon Rybakinová and just Gauffová will, according to Navrátilová’s prediction, rule world tennis in the coming years.
If at the beginning of the season Barbora Krejčíková complained after the tournament in Dubai, where she famously knocked out the three best players in the world rankings, that she would also like to belong to the selected company of the most watched players, now Karolína Muchová and Markéta Vondroušová could be experiencing similar feelings.
Navrátilová did not mention them, although both are excelling this season and have repeatedly shown that they are capable of the biggest titles. Muchová was in the finals of Roland Garros and in the semifinals of the US Open, Vondrousová won Wimbledon and reached the quarterfinals in New York.
Their chance to compete with the very best will most likely come at the Tournament of Champions in Cancun, Mexico from October 29th to November 5th.
The “big four” are already practically guaranteed, Sabalenková leads the seasonal Race ahead of Šwiateková, Gauffová and Rybakinová.
American Jessica Pegula is fifth, Vondroušová sixth, Muchová seventh and Tunisian Uns Džábirová eighth. Other tennis players, including Petra Kvitová and Barbora Krejčíková, have already taken a significant loss on the selected eight.
WTA Race standings (this year’s point gain) as of September 11:
1. Aryna Sabalenková (Belarus) – 8210 points
2. Iga Šwiateková (Poland) – 6905 points
3. Coco Gauff (USA) – 5620 points
4. Jelena Rybakinová (Kazakhstan) – 5476 points
5. Jessica Pegula (USA) – 4405 points
6. Markéta Vondroušová (Czech Republic) – 3661 points
7. Karolína Muchová (Czech Republic) – 3650 points
8. Uns Džábirová (Tunisia) – 3211 points
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9. Madison Keys (USA) – 2737 points
10. Petra Kvitová (Czech Republic) – 2590 points
11. Belinda Bencicová (Switzerland) – 2571 points
12. Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) – 2405 points
13. Darya Kasatkinova (Russia) – 2240 points
14. Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil) – 2111 points
15. Maria Sakkariová (Greece) – 2041 points
16. Barbora Krejčíková (Czech Republic) – 2003 points
Source: Sport
2023-09-14 12:53:32
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