Coco Gauff is gearing up for the Wimbledon Championships, the third Grand Slam of the year.
The American is going into the All-England Club with just one grass court match under her belt this season following her opening round defeat at the Berlin Open.
However, before that result, Gauff, 21, won her first French Open title and though it took place on clay, she will carry that confidence into Wimbledon.
Therefore, seven-time major winner Mats Wilander expects big things from Coco Gauff when the action begins at SW19 next week.
Mats Wilander rates Coco Gauff’s chances at Wimbledon
With none of the current WTA top 10 being a previous Wimbledon champion and many dangerous unseeded players in the draw, the tournament is up for grabs.
Since Gauff beat Venus Williams at Wimbledon as a 15-year-old in 2019, she has struggled at the tournament and on grass in general.
But for the first time in her career, Gauff will enter Wimbledon after winning a Grand Slam title less than a month earlier.
Wilander thinks this has given Gauff plenty of confidence and he believes she will make the necessary adjustments to have her best Wimbledon campaign yet. “I think Gauff is definitely up there with one of the two favorites of winning Wimbledon,” he told TNT Sports.
“I think her serve will become better and better because the confidence will get better and better…I think the confidence is massive for Gauff at Wimbledon.
“She can move on an ice rink, and she’s going to be a great mover on grass. And I don’t think that that’s going to be a problem.
“I think her forehand is going to become better and better because she’s going to understand how much she needs to do with a forehand to win because she’s playing to win. She’s not playing to play great tennis. She’s playing to win.”
Does Mats Wilander think Coco Gauff can become the WTA world number one?
At just 21 years of age Gauff has already achieved plenty in her career, such as winning multiple Grand Slams and WTA 1000 titles.
But one honour that has eluded her so far is becoming the world number one, a spot currently occupied by Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff currently sits just under 3000 points behind the Belarusian in the rankings, but she can reduce that gap with a strong performance at Wimbledon.
As she continues to build more confidence, Wilander thinks Gauff’s consistency will improve as a result, which will allow her to compete for the top ranking spot in the near future.
“I think Coco Gauff can definitely start to compete with being No. 1 in the world because I think she’ll become really consistent,” the Swede added.
“She is pretty consistent, but she’ll become more consistent with that extra confidence of having won her second Grand Slam title.”
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