The evolution of Coco Gauff: A glimpse into the future as she turns 20

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and Coco Gauff is on the other side of the world, in Doha, Qatar, talking about an impending milestone — one she can’t wait to reach.

“I’m hoping that by the time I’m 20, they can stop mentioning my age,” she said in an interview with WTAtennis.com. “Starting at 15, I feel like it’s been so long, five years of the same thing. It’ll be nice to be called — what’s the next thing they’ll call me?

Call her precocious, intelligent, astonishingly put together for any age.

“They won’t call me teenager anymore,” Gauff said, “that’s for sure.”

On Wednesday, here at the BNP Paribas Open, Gauff turns 20. Like Iga Swiatek, who also won her first Grand Slam singles title at 19, age has always been an integral part of the emerging Gauff narrative. She won the junior girls title at Roland Garros at 14 and reached the fourth round of the main draw at Wimbledon a year later

Age is only a number,” she said Saturday after another escape job, a tenuous victory over Clara Burel in a third-set tiebreak. “Hopefully, I can close out this chapter of my life. I did everything I wanted to do.

“I’m going to be out here for at least another 10 years.”

Insider Podcast: Gauff makes Beyoncé an offer she can’t refuse
Coco Gauff named to TIME’s annual Women of the Year list
Coco Gauff graces April cover of Vogue magazine

After going so deep at Wimbledon, Gauff was immediately viewed as a phenomenon — a development that has proved fatal to a number of other players who enjoyed early success. And while she progressed steadily, it wasn’t fast enough for some observers.

She won modest tournaments in Linz and Parma, in 2019 and 2021 respectively, and made her first major final at Roland Garros in 2022, but it wasn’t until last summer that all that talent and promise attained critical mass. In a sizzling span of six weeks, Gauff won her first WTA 500 title in Washington, D.C., her first 1000 in Cincinnati and, ultimately, first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open.

Gauff, by a broad consensus, is one of the fastest players in the game. That asset allowed her to beat many players early on without risking much on the offensive side. But going forward, it was a defensive mode that didn’t always work against more powerful, higher-ranked opponents.

But as she gradually grew into her 5-foot-9 frame, Gauff’s power increased. When Brad Gilbert began coaching her, beginning in Washington D.C., a year ago, the baseline defense and opportunistic offense came together. The US Open, which vaulted her to World No.3, proved she could step aggressively into the court and succeed at the elite level. Perhaps more importantly, that accomplishment proved it to Gauff.

What’s the difference between thinking you can win a major — and knowing it?

I think it’s just more confidence,” she said in Doha. “Like even when you’re playing bad in the match, you know you can come out of it. You’ve just got to figure it out. Before, it was, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ Or, ‘I don’t know if I can get out of this hole.’

“Not saying I’m always going to make it out of the hole — I’m bound to lose many more times in the future. But if you’ve done something before there’s more a probability of it happening again.

Room to improve

Consistency can be a challenge for younger players, but at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, Gauff put together a remarkable piece of work. She reached six consecutive semifinals — including two majors, two WTA 1000s and the WTA Finals in Cancun.

“Man, I didn’t know that,” Gauff said. “That’s cool. I would say that honestly, last year that was one of my goals. I wanted to do better at the 1000-level events and be more consistent. Obviously, I’ve proved I can do that.

“That’s a really cool stat and puts everything into perspective.”