Coco Gauff has her sights set on a second-career Grand Slam title at this year’s Australian Open.
The American WTA star is one of the biggest names in tennis and looks to have a real shot at winning this year’s first Grand Slam title.
Coco Gauff won the United Cup with Team USA to kick off her year in fine fashion and has continued that form through the early rounds in Melbourne.
World number three Gauff beat Sofia Kenin in the first round, taking down the former Australian Open champion in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Gauff then took down Jodie Burrage, to book her place in the third round, where she came up against 2021 US Open finalist, Leylah Fernandez.
Fernandez was no match for the American, as Gauff advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the fourth time in her young career.
After the match, Gauff was asked about her team’s decision not to take advantage of the big new change for this year’s tournament.
Coco Gauff doesn’t like to hear ‘too much’ from her team as her coaches opt out of using courtside boxes
Following her 6-4, 6-2, win over Fernandez, Gauff was asked why her coaching team hasn’t been using the new courtside boxes introduced for this year’s Australian Open.
“I told them to choose whatever they wanted to do,” she said.
“Maybe my theory was that at the United Cup JC [Jean-Cristophe Faurel] was on the bench and maybe he did not like that experience, so he chose to go in the box.
“But it’s their decision.”
Gauff went on to say that she doesn’t need too much coaching during the match.
“I am a player who doesn’t like to hear too much,” she said.
“But I do put my towel over there, so whenever I go over there they know if they need to tell me something I am there to listen.
“But overall I think less is more and they prep me a lot before the match.”
Gauff had beaten Fernandez at the United Cup less than a month ago and explained how she had to mix things up to secure another win over her Canadian opponent.
“Because she [Leylah Fernandez] knows what to expect, I definitely think she played a little bit different today than she did at United Cup,” said Gauff.
“I definitely think it’s harder because you’re trying to change up what you did last time, because she’s kind of expecting it.
“Leylah’s a great competitor, great player, great person, so I knew today was going to be a tough match, regardless of the result a couple of weeks ago.”
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka ease into the fourth round of the Australian Open
Gauff, and Aryna Sabalenka, arguably the two favorites for this year’s Australian Open, have made their way through into the last 16 in Melbourne without too much trouble.
The pair are yet to drop a set at the tournament, with Sabalenka beating Clara Tauson, earlier on Friday.
But how dominant have the pair been so far, and who has impressed the most through three rounds down under?
| Name | Sets won | Sets lost | Games won | Games lost |
| Coco Gauff | 6 | 0 | 37 | 20 |
| Aryna Sabalenka | 6 | 0 | 38 | 23 |
Hardly anything separates the pair, with the Belarussian star dropping just three more games than her American rival.
Sabalenka and Gauff look destined for a semi-final clash at this year’s tournament, in what would be a rematch from 2024, where the former got the win.
Since then, they have played just twice on the WTA Tour, with Sabalenka beating Gauff in Wuhan before the American got her revenge on her way to the WTA Finals title in November.
Neither Gauff nor Sabalenka will want to get too far ahead of themselves, however, as they still have two matches to play before they can start thinking of a semi-final rematch.
- 4R Gauff v Belinda Bencic
- 4R Sabalenka v Mirra Andreeva
- QF Gauff v Paula Badosa/Olga Danilovic/Jessica Pegula
- QF Sabalenka v Donna Vekic/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Gauff will take on Belinda Bencic, and Sabalenka will face off against Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round on Sunday, January 19.
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