Coco Gauff will finish the 2023 WTA season with her highest-ever year-end ranking after a very successful second part of the season.
After breaking into the Top 10 last year, and finishing the season as the world no. 7, the young American certainly had high ambitions ahead of the 2023 season. However, some parts of the season were far from ideal for Gauff.
After winning the 2023 ASB Classic in Auckland, and reaching the semifinals at the Dubai Championships, along with the quarterfinals at the Roland Garros and Indian Wells, the 19-year-old struggled with her game for some time.
There was a lot of noise surrounding her forehand, which seemed to be the weakest shot in Gauff’s repertoire. And it was her worst result of the season that proved to be the turning point.
Ahead of the 2023 Wimbledon, the teenager hired a new coach, Pere Riba. Yet, their first tournament together was a first-round loss at the All England Club. But that was soon forgotten.
The American started an incredible streak, winning the 2023 Citi Open in Washington, before reaching the Canadian Open quarterfinals and following up on those results with the Cincinnati Masters triumph.
Gauff won her first WTA 500 trophy, and soon after that, also a WTA 1000 title, and at that point, there was only one trophy missing in her cabinet, the Grand Slam title.
She soon added that to her collection with an unbelievable run at the 2023 US Open, winning her first-ever major tournament, and earning very important 2000 points that boosted her rankings significantly.
As a result, the 19-year-old reached her new career high, which is third place. And it’s exactly the third place that will mark her best-ever year-end ranking, following last year’s world no. 7 finish.
Her semifinal run at the 2023 WTA Finals helped her achieve that, since a potential extra loss in the round-robin stage would mean that her doubles partner Jessica Pegula would get a chance to overtake her.
That won’t happen, and ahead of the 2024 season, Gauff can look only ahead. With a fourth-round finish at the Australian Open, the American has a chance to significantly improve this result and even challenge the current world no. 1, Aryna Sabalenka for her spot, as the Belarusian is dropping 2000 points in Melbourne.
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