Coco Gauff announced her name in the tennis world by defeating the five-time champion, Venus Williams, in straight sets in her main-draw debut at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. Following that incredible victory, in the first round of that major event, Gauff said, “My goal was to play my best. My dream was to win. That’s what happened.” A few years later, she became the first teenager to win the US Open (2023) since Serena Williams in 1999. Talking about this youngster in a previous interview, Venus said, “It’s so exciting to see her explode. She’s fantastic and, of course, I hope she wins every match.” Talking about winning, Gauff has now won 12 of her past 14 matches, including reaching the finals on clay in Madrid and Rome. Seeing her “win ugly” drew reactions from Venus Williams just a few days ago, and now Roger Federer’s ex-coach, Paul Annacone, seems to be echoing the same things about the 21-year-old tennis star. What’s it, though?

Well, just a few days ago, during TNT’s live coverage of the 2025 French Open, Venus Williams portrayed her love for Coco Gauff, saying, “Coco, I’m a huge fan. I love her passion. I think sometimes, though, she’s just too hard on herself. I think she’s got to just let go and allow herself to do what she can do. She has such big expectations of herself, so I’d love to see her win here. She’s come close. I know she wants to win.” Recently, Gauff defeated Tereza Valentova by 6-2,6-4 in the second round of the French Open. With this win, she has now become the youngest player to reach the third round of the Roland Garros for five consecutive years since Maria Sharapova(2004-08).

However, despite this straight-set victory, her performance in this match has now become the talk of the town. Although she landed 70 percent of her first serves, she won just 19 percent of her second serve points and was broken five times during this match. Reacting to her performance in this match during her post-match interview, Coco Gauff said, “I felt like today wasn’t isn’t always the way I like to play, but that was what was required for today, to be honest.” How does she manage to secure stunning victories even after playing not her best game? Well, that’s the biggest query in the tennis world at the moment!

Later on, while sharing his thoughts on the American during the TC Live Podcast, Paul Annacone said, “I just love that last line. That was what was required for today. And I think that that’s the next stage for Coco Gauff, is I think that she’s so tough on herself and she’s such a perfectionist that at times when she doesn’t play at the level she wants, she just beats herself up and then it’s a little bit of a downward spiral and then she’s vulnerable.”

He further went on to add, “So if she can play at the level that’s required on the day and just think her way through, she can win so many majors. And I think she will because she’s getting more mature, she’s getting better. You talked about the confidence on the forehand. So I love to see her when she plays average and then how she reacts and when she reacts like she did today, look out.” His advice is quite similar to Venus Williams‘, isn’t it?

It seems like Coco Gauff has made winning ugly a habit now! So far in her two matches, she has already committed 13 double faults. Talking about her daughter’s performance in the second round, her father Corey Gauff said, “There is a sense of urgency after getting broken, for sure. You don’t want to get too far behind. You don’t want to get two breaks down. You can live with one break. But she’s definitely got to serve better and do a better job of holding as the tournament progresses. She’s probably been one of the best returners of serve on the tour the last two to three months. But that’s not what you want. You want to hold first, for sure. It’s not really a break until you hold.“

Next up for Gauff is Marie Bouzkova, and guess what? Coco Gauff has a 0-2 record against the Czech. Does Coco really have a chance of going deep into this tournament this year?

Roger Federer’s ex-coach reveals why he considers Coco Gauff a favorite at the 2025 French Open

Coco Gauff had reached the final of the French Open in 2022, but unfortunately for the American, she was defeated by the four-time champion Iga Swiatek in the final by 6-1,6-3. In March 2025, during an interview, while talking about the French Open, Coco Gauff said, “So that would be a goal to win this tournament just because I did make the final. So I feel like I have a lot of unfinished business there. And yeah, she’s definitely the number one person (Swiatek) to beat when it comes to playing at Roland-Garros.”

After finishing her business in the second round this year, Coco Gauff said that she thinks her overall performance was “fine“, but she claimed she could’ve been “more aggressive” on the serve. Even with her return, she looked quite satisfied. But when it comes to naming the favorite of this tournament, does she consider herself a favorite for winning the title this year?

Well, according to her, “anyone” can win the title in Paris this year. But talking about some specific contenders, she had previously mentioned, “Obviously, I hope I’m up there, but there’s Jasmine [Paolini], Aryna [Sabalenka], Iga [Swiatek], Qinwen [Zheng], Mirra [Andreeva].” What does Paul Annacone have to say on this? Does he consider Gauff a favorite in this tournament?

Just a couple of days ago, Annacone appeared on the TC Live Podcast, and during that time, he said, “She went out and started off extremely well. Coco [Gauff] has built up so much confidence during the clay court season already, feeling really good. I would argue that she is the favorite in this tournament.“

He further added, “I just think the movement and ability to control with her two-hander and the fact that she has been hitting her forehand a little bit better during this clay court swing is going to pay huge dividends. It just looks like she belongs up at the net; she is a tremendous athlete.” Do you also consider Coco Gauff as a favorite at the 2025 French Open, though?