Just five weeks ago, Coco Gauff was holding up the French Open trophy, her second Grand Slam title secured after outlasting Aryna Sabalenka in a gritty final on the clay of Roland-Garros. Then, she was out of Wimbledon in the first round, stunned by unseeded Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in a match that spiraled from tense to lopsided: 7-6 (3), 6-1 on No. 1 Court. And though she holds the No. 2 spot in the WTA rankings, hanging on through the hardcourt swing will be a serious test. Let’s find out more!

Gauff has become just the third woman in the Open era to follow a French Open title with a first-round loss at Wimbledon. Her defeat wasn’t a mystery of margins; it was a statistical unraveling. The No. 2 seed finished with just six winners against 29 unforced errors, including nine double faults. For all her firepower and foot speed, Wimbledon remains her trickiest stage. Since her star-making run in 2019 as a 15-year-old phenom who beat Venus Williams, she hasn’t made it past the fourth round. She’s now exited in the first round twice in the last three years.

Even with her second Slam in the bag, Gauff’s path forward is no cruise. She’s defending 3,060 points through the rest of the season, which is roughly 40 percent of her current total of 7,669. That makes the remainder of her season a tightrope walk.

Now, she’s drawn a metaphorical wild card—will Gauff play it boldly on the hardcourts ahead or be forced to fold under pressure? And Iga Swiatek, after a historic Wimbledon win over Gauff’s compatriot Amanda Anisimova (6-0, 6-0), is gaining ground fast. The Pole has rocketed from No. 8 to No. 3 with 6,813 points and is defending just 830 the rest of the year. If Gauff stumbles again, the gap could vanish quickly.

For Gauff, the calendar resets with a familiar rhythm. She is likely to return to the Citi Open in D.C. later this month. Then it’s on to Canada and Cincinnati before the big one she might have circled in her calendar: the U.S. Open. Luckily for the 2-time Grand Slam champion, the North American hardcourt swing offers breathing room. She lost early last year at the Masters events and in New York, meaning she has fewer points to defend there. Her bigger weight comes later: titles in Beijing and the WTA Finals (2,300 combined) and a semifinal run in Wuhan.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, remains in the lead with 12,420 points, but she’s carrying the heaviest load of defending 5,025 points through the rest of the season. If all points were to drop, Sabalenka would still lead with 7,395, followed by Swiatek at 5,983 and Gauff at 4,609. That gives the Belarusian a solid 1,412-point cushion, making her the clear favorite to finish as year-end No. 1. The real battle will be for the 2nd spot.

But Gauff has a knack for bouncing back.

After Wimbledon stumble, Coco Gauff eyes hardcourt redemption

When Coco Gauff lost in the first round at Wimbledon in 2023 to Sofia Kenin, it sparked a major shift. Gauff overhauled her team, bringing in veteran coach Brad Gilbert, and within just two months, she was lifting her first Grand Slam trophy at the U.S. Open.

And the next year? There was another reset. After a fourth-round exit to Emma Navarro at the U.S. Open in 2024, the 21-year-old made another bold move. She parted ways with Gilbert and hired coach Matt Daly. Under his guidance, she retooled her serve with a new grip and started leaning into her forehand, choosing to attack rather than retreat. The result has been some of the most confident, aggressive tennis of her career.

This year, the loss isn’t being met with panic either. “I’m not going to dwell on this too long because I want to do well at the US Open,” she said. “Maybe losing here first round isn’t the worst thing in the world because I have time to reset.”

There’s no doubt Gauff will do just that. She’s made a habit of turning heartbreak into momentum.