"Coco Gauff has so much room to improve, I think she can be No. 1" - former player and coach Popovic
WTA
Andrea Petkovic's former coach, Petar Popovic, believes Coco Gauff could become the WTA world No. 1 in the future.
Gauff is still just 18 years old but is already having a significant impact in tennis. She burst onto the scene over three years ago at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships as a 15-year-old, reaching the fourth round.
The American reached her maiden Grand Slam singles final at this year's French Open, losing to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. However, it was still a superb breakthrough moment for the teenager, and it will have given her additional belief.
Gauff is also an excellent doubles player. She got to the French Open final alongside Jessica Pegula and became the No. 1 doubles player in the world after triumphing at the Canadian Open with Pegula.
Despite already being an excellent player, Gauff still has so much time to improve at the age of 18. her swift emergence means she deals with much media attention, but the French Open runner-up in singles and doubles is incredibly mature.
Petar Popovic discussed Gauff's prospects on an episode of the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast. He thinks the American plays her best tennis on clay and slow hard courts, but also stated that she has much time to improve on other surfaces and become the No. 1 singles player.
"She is an incredible mover with explosive power. On clay or very slow hard, she's good because she gets a lot of spin, so she has time. She's young and her goal needs to be to improve every week, every month."
"I don't know her ranking, but I think she's in the top 20 and has so much room to improve, which is very good. I think she can be No. 1."
Gauff hopes to end her impressive year by challenging for the WTA Finals, held on home soil in Fort Worth, Texas.
