Coco Gauff's footwear will be different at the upcoming US Open after she launched her second signature shoe alongside the footwear company New Balance.
Gauff's recent court performances have not been as strong as she would have hoped. Despite entering the women's singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at the Olympics, she was unable to win a medal.
The 20-year-old's form heading into the US Open has not been great. She lost in the early rounds of the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, where she was the defending champion. She dropped many points in Cincinnati and lost her spot at No. 2 in the rankings.
Gauff needs to perform well at the US Open to avoid dropping further in the rankings. She is guaranteed to fall to at least No. 5 in the rankings if she does not reach at least the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.
Despite those struggles, John McEnroe thinks the defending US Open champion is the second or third favorite in New York this year. Some others have probably written off Gauff too quickly ahead of the event.
The American's recent form has not stopped her from taking down haters on social media. Gauff recently responded savagely to a social media troll who used explicit language in a post about her.
The World No. 3 also keeps herself busy with collaborations with certain brands and companies. That has been shown by the star revealing her second signature shoe with New Balance ahead of the US Open.
Gauff previously released a shoe with New Balance known as the CG1. The first edition was inspired by basketball, and her second signature shoe, the CG2, is also inspired by the sport.
The US Open champion said she was a big fan of New Balance's 550s. In the CG2, Gauff swapped the familiar basketball on the tongue label for a tennis ball.
"The 550 is one of my favorite shoes to wear off the court. It’s so classic and I love its ’90s-inspired basketball influence. The basketball stitching on the tongue is one of my favorite details. I wanted to bring this into the CG2 while making it unique to me, so we put a tennis ball instead."
The photo below shows that the CG2 is a simple but appealing design. White is the dominant color on both shoes, and a combination of yellow on one show and black on the other provides a nice contrast.
Josh Wilder, product manager for the New Balance Coco footwear line, said it was very important to give Gauff the same underfoot performance in the CG2 since she won her first Grand Slam wearing the CG1.
"Once you win a slam in one shoe, we wanted to make sure we gave her the same underfoot performance, same underfoot comfort and same underfoot stability that she felt, This version is a lot more breathable and more comfortable and allows her to move around the court."
It will be interesting to observe whether Gauff can thrive in her new footwear in the same way she did at last year's US Open.
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