WTA star Coco Gauff is having a fabulous summer and she's now on the cusp of winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2023 US Open.
Gauff, winner of 16 of her past 17 matches, will contest her first US Open semifinal against Karolina Muchova on Thursday and the crowd is warming up to the likelihood of crowning USA's first teenage champion at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams.
Gauff's chances have gone several notches higher with the early elimination of top seed Iga Swiatek. It was just the window of opportunity she needed and the 19-year-old seized the moment, dismantling Jelena Ostapenko in Tuesday's quarterfinal with aplomb.
Gauff has risen to the fifth spot in the current live rankings. Her previous career-best ranking was fourth, which she attained last October. In fact, since Gauff broke the world's Top 10 at last summer's US Open, she has never vacated that position and has enjoyed a stellar 2023 campaign.
And now standing just two wins from the title, she'll need to clear two of her biggest obstacles. One of those is in-form Karolina Muchova, a finalist at this year's French Open who will set sights on getting her revenge for the Cincinnati defeat to Gauff.
In the event Gauff scales that hurdle, a possible meeting against the soon-to-be World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka could be on the horizon. Gauff won't just compete for the title, but a new career-high ranking. Gauff is projected to earn 6,145 points by virtue of winning the 2023 US Open.
That would see her jump three spots into third spot behind only Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, overtaking the likes of Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula. She would also become the highest-ranked American player in the WTA rankings next week. It is a big 'If', but Gauff is not putting a limit to her potential, and a win over Muchova would put her halfway from that accomplishment.
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