At the start of the year, Chris Evert had manifested a special feat for Coco Gauff, looking at her performances back then. “I think Coco [Gauff] will end up No.1,” said Evert. Gauff had just defeated Iga Swiatek en route to winning the WTA Finals and had also defeated her at the United Cup. Fast forward to the end of August, Aryna Sabalenka continues to hold the top spot while Gauff is ranked third in the WTA rankings after a series of underwhelming tournament exits. However, the Belarusian star has to defend 2000 ranking points at the US Open, and Gauff will have a shot at toppling Sabalenka for the top spot under one condition.

Despite being the defending champion and the top seed at the upcoming US Open, Sabalenka has been handed a nightmarish draw at the tournament. She could face former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez as early as the third round. Subsequently, if she manages to come out unscathed, Sabalenka could go head-to-head against Clara Tauson in the next round. A meeting against Jasmine Paolini would potentially await Sabalenka in the quarters.

According to the current WTA rankings, Gauff trails Sabalenka by almost 3400 points. However, this gap could be overcome as Gauff doesn’t have many points to defend on account of her fourth-round loss last year at the US Open. Thus, if Sabalenka falters in the fourth round and Gauff goes on to win the US Open, she would be crowned as the new World Number 1. This is the closest that Gauff has come to achieving the top spot on the WTA rankings chart. Thus, she would want to make the most out of this opportunity and come out all guns blazing at Flushing Meadows.

However, it won’t be a cakewalk for Coco Gauff despite the kind draw received at the tournament. She has Iga Swaitek in her half and it could prove to be an exciting battle if the two clash in the coming days. Although Gauff is one of the hot favorites at the US Open, she received a harsh reality check from tennis insider, Matt Roberts.

Coco Gauff could lose in the early rounds of the US Open?

Earlier this season, Coco Gauff won the French Open title but suffered a shocking first-round loss at the Wimbledon Championships. This could be pointed out to her service errors, which has become a major weakness in Gauff’s game. Even tennis insider Matt Roberts feels that Gauff could be vulnerable in the early rounds if she continues making such blunders.

During the recent episode of The Tennis Podcast, Roberts said, “Where you’re not confident with your game and actually this sort of increased pressure can be a lot, and we saw the double faults, a lot last year, didn’t we, in that match against Emma Navarro, and she never really played her best tennis here last year. And so I think I think that could go either way, and I know that’s probably not groundbreaking analysis, it’s not helpful.”

However, Gauff is obviously aware of the problem considering she’s just made a last minute coaching change, firing Matt Daly to bring in biomechanist Gavin MacMillan. And considering MacMillan is the coach who improved Aryna Sabalenka’s service problems in 2022, could this be the move that helps Gauff overcome her own service errors?

We’ll get a clearer picture when Coco Gauff faces Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round of the US Open. Tomljanovic is best known for her win over Serena Williams in the final match of her career at the US Open three years back. Can Gauff win the US Open title and achieve the World Number 1 ranking? Let us know your views in the comments below.