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In a few days, Coco Gauff will step inside the Flushing Meadows to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time in her career. She won the US Open women's singles championship in 2023 by defeating Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in the all-important final.
Gauff swung her best during the North American hardcourt last year, as she began her preparations for the New York Major by claiming the Citi Open trophy. She then earned a quarterfinalist finish at the Canadian Open before triumphing in Cincinnati.
The American further progressed in the right direction as she surfed the wave of momentum, tanking the likes of Laura Siegemund, Mirra Andreeva, Elise Mertens, Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Ostapenko, and Karolina Muchova en route to the US Open summit clash.
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In the final, Sabalenka pressed her by claiming the opening set but the latter, rallied by the New Yorkers, dug deep to succeed in the following two sets and win the silverware 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Her exploits earned her a place among Tracy Austin, Pete Sampras, and Serena Williams for becoming the fourth American teenager to win the US Open.
However, Coco Gauff seemingly isn't as well poised for a triumph at the 2024 US Open as last year. For her, the 2024 season has more or less panned out similarly to 2023 in the first half but her recent performances paint a pronouncedly different picture ahead of the New York competition.
Coco Gauff's title tally for the 2024 North American hardcourt swing stands at zero
Coco Gauff's triumph at the ASB Classic in January remained her sole trophy for the 2023 season until she prevailed over Maria Sakkari in the Citi Open final in August. She then flew to Montreal for the Canadian Open, where she lost to eventual champion Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals.
The following week, she produced another title-winning performance by taking down the likes of Mayar Sherif, Linda Noskova, Jasmine Paolini, Iga Swiatek, and Karolina Muchova in the Cincinnati Open women's singles draw.
This year, the American didn't compete in Washington after a laborious campaign at the Olympics. She started her preliminaries for the US Open by entering the Canadian Open women's singles field as the top seed, but found herself out of contention early. The World No. 2 defeated China's Wang Yafan in her opener before losing 6-4, 6-1 to Diana Shnaider in the match that followed.
A few days later, she stepped on the court to defend her WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati but faced a horrible result. She faltered against unseeded Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan and lost her opener 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Thus, Coco Gauff will enter the US Open draw with zero titles for the 2024 North American hardcourt swing and might lack the confidence that boosted her morale last year.
Emotional breakdowns on the court
Coco Gauff has been involved in a couple of heated arguments with officials on the court this year that have left her with nothing but tears and losses.
It first happened during the 20-year-old's semifinal showdown with Iga Swiatek at the French Open. After claiming the first set, Swiatek played to hold the fourth game of the second set at 1-2 when she hit a serve that was called out by the lines official, but the chair umpire overruled the decision.
She went on to break Swiatek's serve but couldn't feed off it due to the emotional rush as the Pole clinched the four games that followed and eventually won the match 6-2, 6-4.
Incidentally, a similar episode unfolded at Roland Garros at the Olympics, where she found herself a set down against Croatia's Donna Vekic in the third round. Serving to stay on par with Vekic, she received a return from the opponent that was called out by the official but was overturned by the chair referee.
She protested the decision but to no avail.
Vekic broke her serve in that game and once more to book a place in the quarterfinals with a 7-6(7), 6-2 victory.
In another such incident at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, Coco Gauff was involved in another debate with a chair umpire during her third-round match-up with Karolina Pliskova. Fortunately, that episode apparently didn't affect her significantly as she overcame Pliskova.
Thus, Coco Gauff should be concerned about her chances at the US Open. Primarily, she has two problems, both to do with her mentality, that she will need to address to have a sniff at a second consecutive title in New York.
She first needs to reverse the downward spiral she's been on lately and gain confidence by producing clinical wins in the first few rounds at Flushing Meadows. In tennis journalist Jon Wertheim's words, she needs to start from scratch and not overthink defending 2,000 points (via Tennis Channel):
"Not sure if it’s her [Coco Gauff's] game or just sort of mental approach… I think you say to her, ‘Listen, you’re not defending a US Open title, those points are gone, you’re trying to create, you’re trying to start something, you’re trying to start building.'"
Second, she can't allow her emotions to run high during crunch matches against a top-tier competitor, who will pounce on any weaknesses on a grand stage like the US Open.
