Coco Gauff was at the very top of a dreaded list of the WTA, the unwanted list, a spot no player ever wants. Jump to the present time, and she is on a totally different list, the one every young tennis player would love to be on at the age of 21. So which list is it?

Well, we know Gauff ended the year at World No. 3. And it was her third consecutive season in the WTA Top 3. That achievement makes her the youngest woman this century to reach three straight seasons among the elite. So far, this season, she has won 48 matches, claimed two singles titles, and shown growth.

Each of her last three seasons has had a crowning moment: the US Open in 2023, the WTA Finals in 2024, and a second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2025. Along the way, she’s become just the eighth player since 2000 to record three or more consecutive Top 3 finishes. So yes, she’s in elite company alongside Venus Williams and Iga Swiatek.

Sure, this season, Coco Gauff’s run ended at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. In that she fell to Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(5), 6-2. But one defeat could not take away her year. Her second Grand Slam at Roland was her statement: she can also win on clay. Quarter-final at an Australian Open, a win in Wuhan, a final in Madrid and Rome, a win in the United Cup with Team USA, and you wonder how her game has become full. 

Also, this year, she became the first American woman since Serena Williams to win Roland Garros. Then last year, in the WTA Finals, she became the youngest champion of that event in twenty years and the first American to win it since Serena in 2014.

So if she is achieving all this, why did her name appear on the unwanted list in the first place?

Coco Gauff’s one problem that refused to stay hidden

We know 2025 was a great year for Coco Gauff. She won big matches, lifted important trophies, and finished the season as World No. 3. But even with all the highs, there were still a few problems hiding underneath, and one of them pushed her onto a list no player wants to lead.

Across the season, Coco ended up recording more double faults than anyone else on the WTA Tour. She finished the year with four hundred thirty-one, a number far higher than the rest of the field. Ekaterina Alexandrova followed with three hundred, then came Alycia Parks, Linda Noskova, Marta Kostyuk, and several others.

The gap between Coco Gauff and the rest shows how much her serve has struggled at times. This issue has been around for more than one season, too. Last year, she crossed the four-hundred mark as well, the only player to do so.

It might appear that a double fault is a small error, but when they continue to be shown, they begin forming matches. They give out free points, stop momentum, and put pressure on the critical moments. The game of Coco at the baseline is powerful; her moves are on a high level, and her psychological strength is indisputable. However, it is this flaw that continued to drag her back; that is why she appeared on the list of unwanted athletes in a year that had been highly successful.