“I think she can do it,” ATP star predicts where Coco Gauff will be ranked in the 2025 season

Chris Eubanks believes Coco Gauff will become WTA World No. 1 for the first time next season following her WTA Finals triumph.

“I think she can do it,” ATP star predicts where Coco Gauff will be ranked in the 2025 season

Coco Gauff and Chris Eubanks (via Tennis Gazette/ATP)

Coco Gauff enjoyed another strong finish in the 2024 season after winning two significant titles in two months. The American also climbed to her career-high ranking of World No. 2 after reaching the semifinals of the French Open. With momentum on her side, her fellow compatriot and ATP star Chris Eubanks predicted her ranking position for next season.

Gauff suffered a serious decline in her game during the North American swing. The real low point of it came when she lost to Emma Navarro in the fourth round of the US Open and that led her to not defend the title. However, after parting ways with Brad Gilbert and appointing Matt Daly as her new coach, Gauff had instant success on the court.

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The 20-year-old defeated Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open to win her second WTA 1000 title. She then reached the semifinals of the Wuhan Open before beating Qinwen Zheng to win the WTA Finals. The two titles have now given her a commanding favorite position to win the 2025 Australian Open.

Speaking on the Tennis Channel podcast, Chris Eubanks pointed out that Gauff has been climbing up the WTA ranking for the past four years. He added that he feels she will be the World No. 1 in 2025.

We’ve seen so much greatness from her at such a young age, I think it’s safe to say that she will become world number one,” he said. I think although it’s a big points deficit, I think she can do it next year. Not just because of what I’ve seen from her at the end of last year at the WTA Finals, having to go through a gauntlet to take that title, but also look at history here. Her highest ranking in 2021 was 19, 2022 was four in the world, her highest ranking in 2023 was three in the world, the highest ranking in 2024 was two in the world.

Chris Eubanks said Tennis Channel podcast

Nonetheless, Gauff will open her 2025 campaign at the United Cup which starts on December 31. The World No. 3 will represent Team USA as they are drawn with Croatia and Canada in Group A.

Chris Eubanks’ co-host believes Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will always be above Coco Gauff

Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are above Coco Gauff in the WTA rankings, as both players sit in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively. Both players have also dominated the WTA in the past two years and have become regular favorites for any competition they feature in. In fact, Sabalenka has a 2,886 points gap over Gauff.

Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka
Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka (via The Independent/Tennis.com)

During the aforementioned conversation, Chris Eubanks’ co-host Jason Goodall disagreed with the ATP star. He claimed that it would be very hard for Gauff to surpass Sabalenka and Swiatek, who are more consistent on the court than her.

In order for that to happen she’s going to have to win two, maybe even three [Majors]. [Aryna] Sabalenka over the course of the last couple of seasons has been the most consistent performer at the Majors, [Iga] Swiatek we know dominates on the clay. I think it’s going to be hard for Coco [Gauff] in the next year or two, I take the results at the tail-end of the season with a pinch of salt.

Jason Goodall said

However, if Gauff will have to become World No. 1, she will need to win some titles in the first half of the season. She will then also have to defend the majority of her points from the China Open and WTA Finals.