Coco Gauff Ranks As World No. 1 In Alternative Rankings Ahead Of US Open

Sunday, 24 August 2025 at 14:33

byErik Virostko

Coco Gauff might be the World No. 3 player in the WTA Rankings, but she is the highest-ranked player in an alternative ranking.

Gauff's 2025 season has been a mixed bag so far. She won the French Open and established herself as a Top 3 player alongside Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, but she has also had some disappointing moments.

At the upcoming US Open, the 21-year-old American player will have a chance to become the new WTA World No. 1 player despite trailing the reigning No. 1 Sabalenka by 3,351 points at the moment.

The reason why Gauff will have a chance to claim the top spot in singles for the first time in her career is simple. Sabalenka will defend 2,000 points at the US Open, while Gauff lost already in the fourth round last year.

That means her total will drop to only 7,644 points after the US Open, while Sabalenka's will decrease to 9,235 points. Swiatek will have at least 7,513 means. So, if Gauff wins the title, and Sabalenka doesn't earn more than 409 points, the American would become the WTA World No. 1 player.

But she already occupies the No. 1 position in an alternative ranking. The latest edition of the Universal Tennis Ranking (UTR) has been published ahead of the US Open, and it features Gauff in the No. 1 position with a 12.98 UTR rating.

She is ahead of Swiatek, who is No. 2 with a 12.93 rating, ahead of Sabalenka, who has a 12.92 rating at the No. 3 position. The ranking even has the current WTA World No. 10 Elena Rybakina at the No. 5 position, and WTA No. 35 Emma Raducanu as the No. 9 in UTR.

The alternative ranking aims to represent the true ranking of the players based on the opponents they had to face, not only the points they collected for reaching certain rounds at events.

Gauff aims to play good and look good at the US Open

Gauff is one of the players who loves to express herself on the tennis court through her outfits. She even has her own sneakers and tries to be creative with her outfits. This year, she has worn a different outfit to every event.

That won't change at the US Open, and during her pre-tournament press conference, Gauff was asked how important it is to her to look good on the tennis court. She explained that the fashion part of the sport could help to attract more fans, but that she also personally feels better when she looks good.

"Oh, I think it's so important. I think for me, like I don't know, it's almost extra motivation when I have a great kit, I just want to do better to get the photos that I want. I think it's, especially as a woman, I feel like when you feel good and the fit is right, you feel really confident on the court and you're not thinking about anything else but your game and things like that."

"And also, I think it just brings more fans to the sport. And I think we obviously have our core tennis fans, but I think fashion helps bring just casual fans to the sport and a new demographic. And I think that's great."

"We don't always need the core fans who know every single player. But you look at NBA games, there are so many people who go who don't really know anything about basketball other than how players and why. So I would like for tennis, which I think at the US Open, we get that demographic of people, but I think more on a tour level, I would love to see that."