Coco Gauff is laser-focused this season.
After a disappointing start to the campaign, the American has bounced back during the clay swing, and such is her age at 21, the records are starting to fall once again.
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“Been on tour for 6 years and the age stats are still coming lol,” Gauff wrote on Instagram above a post of her becoming the second-youngest woman to reach a quarterfinal at the Italian Open.
She will face Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva for a place in the last four, just a week on from beating her at the Madrid Open.
Andreeva’s rise echose that of Gauff.
After making her debut at the age of 14 on the ITF women’s circuit, it’s no surprise that after six years, Gauff is still smashing records to do with her age,
After victory over fellow former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, she became the first American player to reach her third quarter-final in Rome since Serena Williams in 2008
She also has the second most wins at the Italian Open before turning 22, with 15 wins, only Gabriela Sabatini, with 27, is ahead of her.
It’s no surprise that the clay swing that has seen Gauff play her best tennis; it is a surface that she recently described as being the most comfortable on, it was also the surface on which she reached her first Grand Slam final.
“When I was younger, I always thought my best surface was hard, and then I got on tour, and I thought my best surface was on clay, and then the US Open, and I was like maybe it is hard!” Gauff told Tennis Channel.
“But I don’t know, there’s something about clay that I have always felt comfortable on. I feel like this year, more than ever, I am moving the best that I have, especially so early in the clay season.”
Gauff was in a bit of a slump by her own very high standards before the clay swing began.
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After losing in the quarterfinals to Padula Badosa at the Australian Open in January, Gauff lost back-to-back first-round matches at the Qatar Open and Dubai Championships.
The sunshine double saw a slight improvement, but she wasn’t able to get past the third round at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
Now, in another quarterfinal, after reaching the same feat in Stuttgart and making the Madrid Open final, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka, Gauff is getting back to her best.
Ultimately the world no.3 has made clear that while tournaments like this are vital, it’s Grand Slams she wants, even more so than the illustrious World No.1 ranking, a feat she has never reached.
“It’s not really that much in my mind, cause I really want another Slam,” Gauff said when asked if being top of the rankings was in her sights.
“It’s not something that I think about, I’d rather take away some more Slam trophies.”
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And there’s no reason why the looming French Open can’t be the place she picks up her second major.
So far, she has two semi-finals and a final in Paris, along with a doubles title in 2024, a modest return considering clay has often spelled trouble for American stars.
Only three of Serena Williams’ 23 single majors came at the French Open, and she remains the last American to win the title in Paris, back in 2015.
On the men’s side, the drought is even longer, stretching back to 1999, when Andre Agassi beat Andrei Medvedev.
Players from the USA tend to struggle on the surface as a result of the lack of opportunities to play on the red clay used in European tournaments at a grassroots level.
Many of the already limited number of clay courts in the United States are fast, low-bounce versions — the polar opposite of those in Europe.
Nonetheless, there is every chance that Gauff could be the one to end the decade-long wait for an American champion at the French Open this year.
