By: Lamin Drammeh
Following her impressive run to the Quarterfinal of the just-ended U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, Coco Gauff has officially made her Top 10 debut on the WTA Ranking table today.
The 18-year-old American reached the French Open final in Paris three months ago without dropping a set and has moved 4 places up to No.8, a new career high World ranking for the young tennis star from Delray Beach, Florida.
This incredible milestone accomplishment by Coco meant she is the youngest woman to debut in the Top 10 since 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova in 2006.
Coco is also the youngest American to make the Top 10 debut since Serena Williams in 1999. She is currently the second highest-ranked American in the Top 10 after compatriot and new doubles partner Jessica Pegula from New York City.
Coco is also the No.1 ranked doubles player in the World by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which she achieved on August 15, 2022 – making her the second-youngest player in history to accomplish this feat.
Coco recently graduated from High School and won her first WTA Tour singles title at the 2019 Linz Open aged 15, making her the youngest singles title-holder on the Tour in 18 years.
She has won two WTA Tour singles titles and five doubles titles- three coming from her partnership with Caty McNally and two with Jessica Pegula. In addition, she has reached two Grand Slam doubles finals, one with her previous partner Caty McNally of Cincinnati and another, partnering with Jessica Pegula.
Coco burst onto the scene with a famous win over her childhood idol, the legendary Venus Williams, in the first round of the 2019 Wimbledon championships aged, 15.
She became the youngest woman to qualify for Wimbledon’s main draw in the open era. However, she was knocked out in the round of 16 of Wimbledon by eventual champion Simona Halep.
In the summer of 2019, still aged 15, Coco reached the third round in her debut U.S. Open. She became the youngest woman since Anna Kournikova in 1996 to achieve this feat. Coco went on to reach the round of 16 of the 2020 Australian open. In doing so, she defeated the reigning champion Naomi Osaka in straight sets to make her presence felt on tennis’ biggest stage again.
Coco, whose rapid rise to stardom has been one of the most exciting tennis stories in recent years, is widely considered the heir apparent to Serena Williams’ throne.
Serena, one of the greatest athletes of all time and a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, has announced her retirement from professional tennis and played her final match during the third round of the 2022 U.S. Open – bringing down the curtain on an extraordinary career that saw her dominate women’s tennis for more than two decades.
Serena’s success was not only limited to singles. She and her older sister Venus Williams also formed arguably the greatest ever doubles partnership in the open era, winning a staggering 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles.
She was also a 4-time Olympic gold medalist, three of them in doubles with Venus and two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.
