Coco Gauff’s recent form has placed her in a tough spot.
The American has been inconsistent heading into August’s US Open, losing to Dayana Yastremska in the Wimbledon first round before struggling during a loss against 18-year-old Victoria Mboko.
Gauff, who has been told she is at a ‘career crossroads’ ahead of the US Open, showed signs of the form that won her the French Open during this week’s Cincinnati Open tournament. However, she was defeated by Jasmine Paolini at the quarter-final stage.
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At 21 years old, Gauff is still young, despite her wealth of experience on the WTA Tour. Therefore, it is understandable that she may go through patches of inconsistent form, as all players do.
However, one tennis legend, who won multiple Wimbledon titles during her career, set a high bar for the youngster at the start of 2025.
Chris Evert predicted Coco Gauff would end the year as world number one
Chris Evert, an 18-time major winner, discussed the prospect of Coco Gauff ending 2025 as world number one while speaking to the WTA ahead of this year’s Australian Open.
Gauff had defeated Iga Swiatek, a key rival for the number one spot, in their two matches before the Australian Open, at the WTA Finals and United Cup.
Speaking to the WTA Tour, Evert said: “I think Coco [Gauff] will end up No.1 — did you see the last few tournaments she played?”
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“When I watched Iga play Coco, and Coco was winning the forehand rallies.
“In that matchup, whoever’s forehand is better, is going to win the match. She [Gauff] is number three right now. It’s not that far out. I think she’s going to get there.”
This prediction now seems extremely unlikely to happen. Aryna Sabalenka will sit on 11225 points after the Cincinnati Open, while Gauff will be on 7874 points after the next update.
Sabalenka would have to endure an almighty collapse in the last quarter of the season for Gauff to have a chance at snatching the number one spot away from the Belarusian. This seems very unlikely considering the consistent nature of Sabalenka’s performances this year, and the recent dip in form Coco Gauff has suffered.
Iga Swiatek could overtake Coco Gauff
Iga Swiatek has continued her excellent recent form, most recently defeating Elena Rybakina to reach the Cincinnati Open final.
Swiatek has already gained 650 points from Cincinnati Open, despite reaching the semi-finals last year. This is because Swiatek forfeited her ranking points from the 2024 Cincinnati Open following a positive doping test.
The WTA Tour rankings if Iga Swiatek wins the Cincinnati Open…
If Swiatek were to win the final, she would gain a further 350 points, catapulting her ahead of Coco Gauff in the WTA rankings.
Meanwhile, Jasmine Paolini has already overtaken Amanda Anisimova in the WTA rankings due to her performance in Cincinnati so far. She will rise above Qinwen Zheng into the number seven spot if she defeats Iga Swiatek.