Serena Williams’ childhood coach Rick Macci has listed a couple of areas where he thinks Coco Gauff is “number one” and his prediction is that it won’t take long before the American becomes the top-ranked player on the WTA Tour.
After winning the 2023 US Open, the 20-year-old also became the top-ranked American female tennis player by reaching the world No. 3 position. While she is still ranked at the same spot, she was able to reach a new career-high ranking of No. 2 in June.
At the start of this week, Aryna Sabalenka replaced Iga Swiatek at the top spot as the Belarusian has 9,706 ranking points while the Pole has 9,665. Between them and Gauff, there is a big gap since the American has 5,963 points. However, Serena and Venus Williams’ ex-coach thinks the 20-year-old has what it takes to surpass both stars.
Coco Gauff© Wuhan Open/Instagram – Fair Use
“Her overall quickness is number One. Her make up speed is number One. Her backbone is number One. Her slice serve on the duce court is number One. Coming soon to a court near you Coco Gauff will be number One. @CocoGauff,” Macci wrote on X.
Her overall quickness is number One. Her make up speed is number One. Her backbone is number One. Her slice serve on the duce court is number One. Coming soon to a court near you Coco Gauff will be number One. @CocoGauff
— Rick Macci (@RickMacci) October 22, 2024
Gauff’s goals are very clear
One thing about the American tennis star is that she never shies away from making her goals perfectly clear. In one of her interviews from last year, she underlined that just being the top-10 wasn’t satisfying enough for her.
“But the goal isn’t to be top-10 forever. The goal is to be No. 1 and win grand slams,” Gauff said in 2023 May.
After winning Beijing and making the Wuhan semifinal, the world No. 3 is set to enter the WTA Finals in Riyadh in fine form. Should Gauff do well at the prestigious season-ending tournament and potentially lift her first WTA Finals title, she could also gain some notable number of points and come closer to Sabalenka and Swiatek in the rankings ahead of the 2025 season.