The challenges of the tennis tour are just halfway over! The season is sailing toward its last Grand Slam, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. For Coco Gauff, the road to New York looks a little bumpier than she’d hope. Fresh off a defeat to No.85-ranked Victoria Mboko at the National Bank Open in Montreal singles, the American still hasn’t snagged another title or made it past the early rounds since her dazzling win in Paris. Now, with Cincinnati on the horizon, all eyes are on what’s next for her.

The latest draw for the upcoming 1000s event just dropped—and it’s not exactly a walk in the park for the world No.2. The Cincinnati Open kicks off August 9, and Coco begins with a first-round bye. She’ll face either Emiliana Arango or Wang Xinyu in the second round. She’s never crossed paths with Arango, but if Wang steps up, things might get spicy—after all, Wang ousted Coco in the first round of the Berlin Open!

Should Coco Gauff break into the third round, Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska could be there waiting—if the 32nd seed gets past a qualifier or Ann Li in her opener. Wimbledon fans will remember Yastremska pulling off that shocker, beating Gauff 7-6, 6-1 right out of the gate at SW19. That’s not the kind of déjà vu Coco wants, but she’s not one to let that cloud her mindset.

After Wimbledon, Coco vented her frustration in the press room but kept her chin up, saying, “Obviously I’m not going to dwell on this too long because I want to do well at the U.S. Open. Maybe losing here first round isn’t the worst thing in the world because I have some time to reset.” Revenge could be sweet as she eyes a spot in the quarterfinals—but the path only gets trickier from here.

If she makes it to the quarters, Jasmine Paolini may be standing on the other side—yes, the same Paolini who topped Coco in the Italian Open final back in May. Punch through to the semis, and fellow American Jessica Pegula might await, hungry for more success with three tournament wins this season at Bad Homburg, Charleston, and Austin, plus holding tight to her No.4 ranking. And should Coco reach the Cincinnati finale? The odds point to Aryna Sabalenka—their rivalry is heating up, with Sabalenka shocking Gauff in Madrid and Coco returning the favor at the French Open final!

What a wild ride this is shaping up to be! Coco has played a real mix this season. She soared alongside Team USA at the United Cup, then hit a dry spell before capturing Roland-Garros. She’s been in the WTA 1000 finals at Rome and Madrid this year but is still searching for her next big win. Could Cincinnati be it? Only time will tell. So far, Coco is keeping it real: grounded, focused, and game for whatever comes next.

Coco Gauff speaks about her loss at Montreal

On August 3, Victoria Mboko stunned the top seed at the Canadian Open with a swift 6-1, 6-4 victory in just over an hour. Though the upset shocked many, signs were there. Gauff’s earlier matches had been chaos—she barely escaped Danielle Collins, blasting 23 double faults and racking up 74 unforced errors in a nail-biting 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) thriller.

Next, she battled Veronika Kudermetova but fell behind a set and a break, again firing 14 double faults. She scraped through, but the strain showed. When asked about her Montreal woes, Gauff was refreshingly honest: “Honestly, I felt like in practice I was playing well. The last few weeks just practicing. I decided to take some time off and not play DC to actually focus on that. And maybe that wasn’t the right decision.” Maybe skipping matches caused more rust than rest.

She added, “Maybe it was better to get more matches under my belt, but you know it’s the first tournament in the hardcourt season, so I’m hoping that in Cincy and in New York I can find that rhythm.” Young yet wise, she knows balancing rest and readiness is tough. This time, luck wasn’t on her side.

Post-Wimbledon heartbreak, Gauff planned a reset. After an intense schedule since her French Open win, she skipped DC for a training block. “Yeah, it was nice to actually have some time in between,” she said before Montreal. “That’s why I didn’t play D.C., because I wanted to just have a real training block, which I hadn’t had in a while just because of how our schedule is.”

The plan made sense, but the results didn’t follow. Now, with Cincinnati and New York looming, the second serve is her focus. Knowing Coco Gauff, she’ll work hard. Will she fix it before the next big challenge? Let us know what you think!