Coco Gauff: 5 key stats behind US No 1’s clay court career

American hopes this clay court season sit firmly on the shoulders of Coco Gauff.

The world No 3 – and highest ranked American across either the WTA or ATP Tours – is the biggest star in the US game, and there are high hopes she can thrive on a surface that hasn’t always been kind to her compatriots.

Despite being only 20, Gauff’s early career breakthrough means that she has already built up a significant level of experience on the dirt, with this being the fifth season where she tackles the clay swing.

Ahead of her opening clay match of the season against Sachia Vickery in Stuttgart, we look at how she has fared on the surface in the past.

French Open win percentage: 79%
Though the greatest Slam moment of her career is her US Open triumph, the French Open has been the most consistent of the four majors for her.

Gauff reached the final in 2022 and was also a quarter-finalist in 2021 and 2023, with an overall 15-4 record at the year’s second major.

It is the only Grand Slam where she has not tasted an opening-round defeat and overall she has an impressive win rate of 79% at Roland Garros

That is marginally higher than her 78% win rate at Flushing Meadows – but is notably higher than her win percentage of 74% across all four Slams.

She reached the semi-final of the Italian Open in 2021 but has failed to get past the third round on her three other campaigns there, and has never made it past that stage in three attempts in Madrid.

With 8-4 and 3-3 records across Rome and Madrid respectively, Gauff has a win percentage of 61% across these two tournaments.

This is slightly down on her overall WTA 1000 win percentage of 65%, and significantly down on her clay performances elsewhere

Overall win percentage: 71%
Gauff’s win rate at WTA 1000 level dips compared to her Slam record, but overall she has a strong record on the surface.

As of the end of 2023, the 20-year-old has played 49 matches on clay and has compiled a 35-14 record, leaving her with a win percentage of 71.4% across her career.