Coco Gauff’s Post-French Open Flex Sparks Shocker as Ex-Pros Hail Her ‘Unreal’ Status

Coco Gauff was on cloud nine after she scripted history at the French Open last week. The World No.2 bested the three-time slam queen Aryna Sabalenka at Court Philippe-Chatrier. Apart from earning her maiden Suzanne Lenglen trophy, the American WTA star also struck massive fortune. Pocketing around $2.9 million in her account was something inevitable that was bound to happen once she captured the title in Paris. It was the second time, since November last season, that she received such a mind-boggling winner’s check. At the WTA Finals, Gauff witnessed her career prize money tracker going up by $4.8 million. That’s how much she minted after clinching the tournament in Riyadh. Remember how she reacted after hitting this jackpot? “I’m not someone who likes to spend a lot of money, to be honest. I don’t know what I’ll do with it.” Well, now we know.

For the uninitiated, Gauff was the highest-paid female athlete last year. She earned a total of $30.4 million in career prize money and endorsements in 2024, as reported by Sportico. It seems she’s making pretty good use of her wealth lately. Especially when it comes to traveling across tours. How?

During an episode of the Nothing Major podcast, dated June 14, former American pros John Isner, Sam Querrey, Jack Sock, and Steve Johnson were talking about all the stuff that happened at the Roland Garros. However, Isner curiously highlighted one unknown detail involving Gauff. He asked Querrey, “Was Coco (Gauff) flying privately back home to the United States?”

Querrey, who was present in Paris as part of TNT Sports’ team’s coverage of the event responded, “For sure. I mean, yeah, I saw that, yeah.” To this, Isner responded, “That she wasn’t boarding the American airlines with you, right?” Querrey then reminded him of Gauff’s newfound stature. “Dude, highest paid female athlete last year.”

Isner was undoubtedly left stunned. At the same time, he was impressed to know that Gauff’s got such convenient options now. “Credit to her. It’s freaking awesome.” Querrey agreed, “Yeah. Unreal.”

Speaking about money, she said recently, “But yeah, obviously I’m more aware of what I’m making now. I’m very much in the business meetings now, looking at these contracts and things like that. But at the time, I’m very happy that they kept me unaware of that because I feel like I could have maybe wanted to play for the wrong reasons.”

But guess what? It’s all her hard work on the court that has helped her accomplish so much as a sports person. And Gauff knows she has to deliver her best consistently if she wants to be the biggest tennis player out there. So what do you have to do for that? Forget your glories and focus on the next target. That’s exactly what the French Open winner is thinking of doing ahead of her next challenge on grass. The Wimbledon.

Coco Gauff’s bizarre strategy to prepare for Wimbledon

While she’s been consistent on clay, Coco Gauff has failed to shine on grass. Especially at the All England Club. Since making her event debut in 2019, she’s never been able to move beyond the fourth round.

However, it seems like this time she’s willing to change the pattern. How? During an episode of the Nice Talk podcast by Nikki Ogunnaike, Gauff revealed, “going into Wimbledon, I definitely feel pretty confident. And I’ve done fourth round there a few times, so I’m just really focused on trying to get past that stage.” Of course she’s feeling like a potential title contender after winning the Roland Garros. But to replicate a similar result at Wimbledon, she’s come up with an unusual and weird strategy. What’s that?

“I don’t know how I’m going to feel once I step on the court, but I do think that I can give myself the best shot, just trying to keep the moment as minimized as possible, and kind of trying to forget this Roland Garros win, honestly.”

Explaining her point, she continued, “I learned from that mindset post US Open. And I’m just going to try to forget it (French Open win).” The 21-year-old then joked, “Not now, definitely remembering it now. But when the time comes where I step on the center court or court one at Wimbledon, I will definitely try to forget it.”

What are your thoughts on Gauff’s prospects at Wimbledon? Will she make a deeper run this season on grass? Let us know in the comments below.