“I prefer…” Coco Gauff chooses between becoming World No.1 and winning another Grand Slam title
World No. 3 Coco Gauff is one step away from achieving her best result at the Miami Open.
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Coco Gauff ( image via Instagram @cocogauff)
Between winning another Grand Slam or becoming World No. 1, 21-year-old Coco Gauff spoke about her preference during a press conference at the Miami Open. Gauff clinched her maiden Grand Slam title on home soil at the 2023 US Open by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the finals.
Her second-best performance at a Grand Slam has been at the 2022 French Open, where she was a runner-up to Iga Swiatek. At the 2024 French Open, Gauff reached the semifinals and was defeated by eventual champion Swiatek. But despite the loss, she reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 2 on 10 June 2024.
I prefer another Grand Slam; I’ve always said that. I don’t know; I feel like people remember you more for the titles you won than for your position in the world ranking… obviously, if I could have both, that would be great too. Personally, after winning one, I’d love to win another in the future. Now, if I had already won four and still hadn’t reached No. 1, then maybe the story would be different. But having only one, I’d like to have another to strengthen the foundations of my record a bit more.
Coco Gauff told the reporters at the Miami Open
Gauff is currently ranked No. 3 behind Sabalenka and Swiatek. Though Gauff started her 2025 season strong, taking the US to victory at the United Cup with a straight-set victory over Swiatek in the finals, she has struggled to maintain her form in the ensuing tournaments.
She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where she lost to 11th seed Paula Badosa in straight sets. She had a disappointing Middle East swing, marked with opening round exits at Doha and Dubai. She then competed at Indian Wells, where she lost in the Round of 16 to Belinda Bencic. Gauff is now playing at the Miami Open, where she has reached the Round of 16.
Coco Gauff starts her Miami Open campaign with a double bagel
Coco Gauff had a comfortable double bagel victory over compatriot Sofia Kenin in her opening round match at the Miami Open. With this win, Gauff has improved her head-to-head record over Kenin to 3-2. It was also Gauff’s second win over Kenin this season following their meeting in the first round of the Australian Open.
This was the second double bagel of Gauff’s career, with her first one being in the 2024 Madrid Open against Arantxa Rus. However, Gauff believes in not dwelling on the bagels too much and putting one’s focus more on the next match.
I knew that today things wouldn’t go as well as in the previous match; it’s very rare to get two consecutive wins without dropping any games overall. Honestly, what I was trying to do is forget about it; I didn’t want to dwell on it too much since these results are just circumstances that one can encounter every couple of years. I was just trying to leave that anecdote in the past and focus fully on today’s match. I knew it would be harder just by the fact of knowing that you can’t get anything better than a 6-0, 6-0.
Coco Gauff added
Gauff then defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets in the Round of 32 at the Miami Open. She had a straight-set victory over Sakkari a few days back as well in the Round of 32 at Indian Wells. However, Sakkari still leads their head-to-head 5-4.
Coco Gauff will face Magda Linette in the next round
Coco Gauff is one step away from achieving her best result at the Miami Open. She has reached the Round of 16 of this tournament twice before as well, in 2022 and 2024. In the Round of 16 of the Miami Open in 2022, she lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek, and last year she lost to Caroline Garcia. In the Round of 16 this year, Gauff will face Magda Linette.
This will mark their third meeting on court. Gauff had defeated the Pole in both of their previous meetings, i.e., in Wuhan in 2024 and at the US Open in 2021. Linette has reached the Round of 16 of this tournament by defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova and Linda Fruhvirtova in prior rounds.
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