Coco Gauff has just made more history even though the 2025 WTA season has finished

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It really feels like Coco Gauff has already been around forever, and yet she remains just 21 years old.

However, having burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old, it’s no surprise that she is already so famed despite her youth.

There, she stormed into the fourth round at Wimbledon, beating Venus Williams on her way to that stage. It marked the start of what has since been a long and ever-growing list of ‘youngest ever’ accolades.

And now, even though the WTA season has finished, Coco Gauff has swept up another piece of history to continue adding to her sparkling résumé.

Coco Gauff earns latest record without even playing

Whilst Gauff and Jessica Pegula helped break an American tennis record with their respective end-of-season rankings, this latest success for the former marked a personal triumph that only she has accomplished since the turn of the century.

And, once again, she is the youngest to have accomplished such an achievement, made even more impressive given the fact that both Venus and Serena Williams were roughly 18 and 20 at the turn of the century.

Despite this, it is Gauff who is the youngest woman to finish inside the top three for three straight years, having finished 2023, 2024, and now 2025 ranked third.

Her closest competitor was Venus, who was aged 20 to 22, with Iga Swiatek not far behind, aged 21 to 23 when she managed this.

Shockingly, Serena was aged 33 when she first accomplished such a feat, highlighting just how difficult, and therefore impressive, that Gauff’s latest record is.

Coco Gauff could be an underdog for the 2026 Australian Open title

Despite Gauff’s title in Wuhan, there are still so many uncertainties surrounding the top-ranked American heading into 2026.

It really feels like she could either explode into a threat for every title or continue the struggles that have held her back over the last 11 months.

Double faults and a misfiring forehand led many to worry for her, with her unrelenting mindset and physicality keeping her in matches where she was posting horrific statistics.

But, the feeling was that, should she find a way to fix those outstanding issues, there would be few on tour that could stop her.

Gauff hired Gavin MacMillan in September, and so will have had nearly half a year to work with him by the time the Australian Open rolls around.

She could surprise everyone with her revamped technique and make a genuine run for the title right when nobody is expecting her to.