Coco Gauff Reveals Major Concern Behind Skipping $1 Million US Open Chance: “Not Be Happy”

Last month, it became official: the 22-year-old Ben Shelton is bringing the fire back to mixed doubles in New York, teaming up with none other than WTA doubles World No.1 Taylor Townsend. The current Australian Open women’s doubles winner with Katerina Siniakova, Townsend couldn’t hide her thrill, exclaiming, “We did, we did. Oh my god, love it,” while Shelton promised, “I think that’s what you can expect again,” when the official Instagram account of the US Open shared a clip showing their chemistry. Yet, as the top seed soars in anticipation, another American name, Coco Gauff, will skip the $1 million US Open mixed doubles lure, revealing her reason while locked in battle at the Cincinnati Open.

A week ago in Montreal, Coco Gauff’s campaign collapsed under the weight of 42 double faults in just three matches. So when the Hologic WTA Tour’s doubles leader (293) coughed up three more in a single game Sunday at the Cincinnati Open, tension gripped P&G Center Court. But the No. 2 seed steadied her hand, tamed her nerves, and dispatched Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-2 in a crisp 70-minute display.

Yet, the victory’s glow carried more than just a scoreboard triumph. In the aftermath, Gauff peeled back the curtain, revealing exactly why she would not enter the US Open doubles stage this year.

In the glow of her Cincinnati triumph, Coco Gauff sat before the press, the $1 million US Open prize money pool hanging in the air. When asked why she would skip the event, her answer cut with clarity. “For me, it was just because I know the free week of the US Open’s already packed for me for sponsor things and it was just like a whole another thing, and I’m very so much I’m competitive, like if I were to lose, I would not be happy.” It wasn’t hesitation, it was calculation, a fierce competitor guarding her mental arsenal.

Coco didn’t stop there. “So, I didn’t want to waste mental energy on that, then on top of the sponsor stuff, the pre-week, and then knowing that this finished on Monday and potentially having to play on Tuesday. Well, yeah, you would have to play on a Tuesday,” she added, the reality of the schedule grinding against the romantic lure of the competition. For Gauff, the margins between winning and empty-handed exhaustion were too slim to risk.

And yet, her tone softened with a spark of future possibility. “So I just knew it wasn’t going to work out for me with the scheduling, but you know, I think it’s cool and I think it’s going to be exciting. I think it’s two days, exciting two days. So, yeah, not knocking it off for the future. It’s just by like I plan my sponsor weeks literally like a year out, sometimes a year and a half out. And when this whole thing was coming up, I was already booked and busy,” Coco added.

(More to come…)