Coco Gauff loses World No. 2 ranking after shock 2R exit at Cincinnati Open 2024, drops below Aryna Sabalenka ahead of US Open title defense

Coco Gauff is set to lose her World No. 2 ranking on the WTA Tour after being unable to defend her title at the 2024 Cincinnati Open. The 20-year-old bowed out of the WTA 1000 tournament in the second round on August 15.

The second-seeded Gauff faced Yulia Putintseva in the second round after a first-round bye. Both women traded multiple breaks of serves in the first set, but the Kazakh managed to hold her nerves better to take the first set. Gauff roared back into the contest by taking the second set 6-2 and forcing the match into a decider.

The American was on course to secure the win as she raced to a 4-2 lead in the deciding set. However, she could not hold on to the advantage as Putintseva rattled off four games on the trot to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. This was the 29-year-old's third top-10 win of the year, having previously beaten Zheng Qinwen at the Madrid Open before triumphing over Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon.

As for Coco Gauff, the upset defeat in Cincinnati will result in her losing World No. 2 to Aryna Sabalenka and dropping down to World No. 3. Gauff won her maiden WTA 1000 title at Cincinnati last year, becoming the youngest-ever winner at the tournament. However, after losing to Putintseva, she will lose 890 of the 900 points she earned at the tournament in 2023.

Coco Gauff has won just one match on the North American hard-court swing head of US Open title defense

Coco Gauff pictured at Cincinnati Open

Coco Gauff's next tournament will be the 2024 US Open, where she is the defending champion. The American defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the 2023 US Open and became the first teenager since 1999 to emerge victorious in New York. She will now be tasked with defending the 2000 points at the Flushing Meadows.

The talented American will head to New York in concerning form after winning just one match in the North American hardcourt tournaments preceding the year's last Grand Slam. Gauff did not defend her title at the WTA 500 Citi Open as it coincided with her participation at the Paris Olympics. She competed in the singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles categories in Paris and did not win a medal in any of them.

She then played at the Canadian Open in Toronto and defeated Wang Yafan before losing to Diana Shnaider in the third round. With her second-round exit in Cincinnati, Coco Gauff will need a deep run in New York to avoid further damage to her WTA Rankings.