Coco Gauff jumps in last minute in attempt to save US team despite initial absence
Without a doubt, Coco Gauff is the future of American tennis and currently, she's the second highest-ranked US player in singles and no. 1 in doubles.
Since Jessica Pegula didn't travel to Glasgow, the 18-years-old American is the leading player of the US team in both singles and doubles but due to her participation at the 2022 WTA Finals, she was initially excluded from team's line up against Poland in their opening tie of the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
World no. 7 in the WTA Rankings travelled 23 hours from Fort Worth, Texas to Glasgow in Scotland and so it was expected that she won't play in the first tie against Poland. Yet, after Danielle Collins defeated Magdalena Frech things didn't go so well for the American team.
Madison Keys lost to Magda Linette in three sets and the tie has to be decided in doubles. Initially, Caty McNally was supposed to team up with Taylor Townsend but a last minute change was made.
Coco Gauff will join her very good friend and player that she played the 2021 US Open doubles final alongside. They will take on Magda Linette and Alicja Rosolska in a deciding match of the first tie against Poland.
After her arrival to Glasgow, Gauff said: "Texas didn’t go the way I wanted it to go. That motivated me even more to come here," Gauff continued. "It’s very rare tennis experiences a team atmosphere. I played other team sports like basketball. That’s the one thing I did miss from playing (basketball). The Billie Jean King Cup is what brings you closest to that".
"Obviously it was a great year. I have a lot of high expectations for myself. Overall, I think it’s the best year of my career so far. It’s the most I’ve played tournament-wise. I hope next year is even better."
Eventually, the youngster needed only 47 minutes to beat the Polish duo alongside Caty McNally and secure the needed point for Team US.
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