Coco Gauff’s journey to a second US Open title has been illuminated, and tennis fans have had little trouble expressing their reaction to just how stacked it appears on paper.
Gauff is set to face Zeynep Sonmez in the first round and then a potential second-round match with Daria Kasatkina or Paula Badosa – Badosa defeated Gauff earlier this year in Berlin in a three-setter with injury concerns.
The third-round clash could be against Sara Bejlek, Cristina Bucsa or Anhelina Kalinina, and a possible fourth-round test against Iva Jovic or Alexandra Eala, the Filipino star who has been one of the tour’s most in-form players this season.
From there, with a projected quarter-final against Mirra Andreeva, Amanda Anisimova, Anastasia Potapova or Jelena Ostapenko, a semi-final that could bring Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic or Madison Keys, and a final that might feature Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Muchova, Linda Noskova or Marta Kostyuk.
The draw of that difficulty, essentially a run-through of WTA’s current top-form players, has fans excited and nervous at the same time.
Fans believe Coco Gauff’s recent form gives her a genuine shot
“Wow this is tough but in her current form she can do it,” one fan captured the mixed emotions perfectly as she posted on X. Coco Gauff is entering the US Open on the back of winning Cincinnati, a sensational run where she just lost one set throughout the tournament and defeated the player who has the most tour wins this season, Jessica Pegula, to win the title.
“Coco can do this! Toughest opponents here for Coco are Badosa R2 and Anisimova or Potapova QF. Bencic is tough as nails but Coco often seems to slide through their matches,” one fan broke down.
Considering that Badosa defeated Gauff just a few months ago, even though she was not in her best form sounds alarming for the 22-year-old. Additionally, not seeing Bencic as a threat makes sense, as the last four encounters between the two have all gone down to the wire, yet somehow the American has managed to win all of those matches.
“Im not gonna lie this is the coco gauff draw of doom and despair. We gonna get through it though trust,” one fan wrote, while another framed the stakes in the highest possible terms. “If my girl pulls this off she’s really the undisputed goat.”
“If she plays how she played in Cincy and stays locked in then this is her trophy. The only person that can get in her way is herself, so please Coco lock tf in!!!” the fan wrote, capturing her sensational Cincinnati run.
Winning a second title in Cincinnati, Gauff admitted that she played the best tennis in 2-3 years. Serve is one of the weapons for the two-time Grand Slam champion, which she relentlessly worked on over the past few months and only committed one double fault in the Cincinnati final. Her first serve win percentage was also as high as 76% throughout the tournament. With 40 wins and three WTA 1000 finals appearances this season, can she cap it off with a Grand Slam title in New York?