Coco Gauff was thrilled to become the doubles No. 1, but she admitted to not being aware of separate singles and doubles rankings as a child.
The 18-year-old is best known for her singles matches, having broken through as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon in 2019. She was the runner-up to Iga Swiatek at this year's French Open at Roland-Garros.
However, Gauff has also formed a successful doubles partnership with Jessica Pegula. The pair reached the final at the French Open, meaning the teenager achieved the rare feat of making singles and doubles finals at the same tournament.
Gauff and Pegula added to that success at the National Bank Open in Toronto. After receiving a walkover in the opening round, the American pair defeated Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs and Madison Keys and Sania Mirza to make the final.
Unlike the French Open, Gauff and Pegula went a step further in Toronto. They overcame Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to secure the women's doubles title at the National Bank Open for the first time.
That triumph also made Gauff the official doubles No. 1. Despite being very happy with the achievement, it was not a childhood dream for her since she was unaware of separate singles and doubles rankings as a kid.
"Being No. 1 is pretty cool. I have no words Honestly, as a kid, I didn't even know there were separate rankings for singles and doubles. So as a kid, no. But when I got on tour and realized I could do well in doubles, yes. I didn't put pressure on myself to do it, but I wanted to."
"Who wouldn't want to be No. 1 in anything? But yeah, I would say when I got on tour and started doing well in doubles and my ranking started going up, I realized that No. 1 was possible."
Gauff's game on the singles court is very complete. Regularly playing doubles might partially explain that because of the range of skills needed, particularly volleying.
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