Before it all stopped, no tennis talent was on a steeper climb than Coco Gauff was.

Ranked 686th in women’s singles at the start of 2019, Gauff proceeded to crack the top 50, win her first WTA title, and make impressive runs at three Grand Slam events, all before turning 16 years old.

Then came the abrupt halting of the tennis tours, and so many other parts of American society, in March.

“Obviously I missed competing and I missed playing, but I think it was a good little break for me because I was able to train,” Gauff said. “I always consider myself still in the development stage, so having those months off to work on certain stuff definitely helped.”

Gauff, now ranked 53rd, returned to competition for the first time since January this week in Lexington, Ky., at the new Top Seed Open, a WTA tournament that has attracted past Grand Slam champions like Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens. Gauff advanced to Saturday’s semifinal, where she lost in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, to Jennifer Brady, the No. 49 WTA singles player.

Source: New York Times

Powered by NewsAPI.org