Coco Gauff is one of six teenagers in the WTA's Top 100, but none of the other five names have a resume to match.
The American is the only one in that group who has won at least two or more WTA titles. In total, Gauff has lifted seven career titles at the tour level, one of which was the US Open last September - her first Grand Slam.
Gauff's first breakthrough was in 2019 when she reached her first WTA final in Linz at the age of just 15 years and seven months. She entered the tournament as a lucky loser and stunned former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in the final.
The Delray youngster has a terrific record in WTA finals. She has since contested six more finals, winning five of them. Her only defeat came at the 2022 French Open final when she lost to Iga Swiatek in straight sets. It was her first-ever experience in a major final.
Before 2023, she had not won a title bigger than a WTA 250. But at last year's US swing, she scooped the WTA 500 in Washington, the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati, and, of course, that memorable first major in New York, beating the soon-to-be World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
Her success at her home Slam made Gauff the first teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams. Gauff had the chance to win multiple Grand Slams as a teenager, something that none of the women belonging to the current generation have done.
But she lost to Sabalenka in the Australian Open semifinals last month. She was scheduled to appear in two tournaments in the Middle East before heading back to the United States.
Gauff suffered a surprise defeat to Katerina Siniakova in the second round of the Qatar Open, which means she will have one last chance to win one more title as a teenager before her 20th birthday in March. She will be among the favorites at the Dubai Championships, which kick off next week.
After Dubai, Gauff's next tournament will be Indian Wells on home soil. She will celebrate her 20th birthday on March 13th, which is four days earlier than the Indian Wells final.
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