Coco Gauff Opens Up About Playing “Mandatory” WTA Tournament Ahead of the US Open

Coco Gauff is set to open her Canadian Open campaign against Danielle Collins in Montreal.

Coco Gauff Opens Up About Playing “Mandatory” WTA Tournament Ahead of the US Open

Coco Gauff (via X/The Tennis Letter)

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Coco Gauff is seeking to bounce back from her poor grass-court season, where she failed to win a single match on the surface. The American star is currently at the Canadian Open and eager to return to winning ways. She recently revealed the reason she’s competing at the WTA 1000 tournament despite the jam-packed schedule.

Gauff has already played 41 matches this season, winning 31 and losing 10 in the process. The 2023 US Open champion has also won just one title this season, and that came at Roland Garros, where she came from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final to win her second singles career Grand Slam.

She was hoping to continue with the clay-court form in the grass-court season, but that failed to materialize as she crashed out of the first round of the Berlin Tennis Open after losing to Xinyu Wang. She then lost to Dayana Yastremska in the first round of the Wimbledon despite being among the favorites.

The 21-year-old is now set to open her North American hard-court swing at the Canadian Open, which is a WTA 1000 event. Currently in the women’s circuit, a player must play in at least 21 tournaments, including the four Grand Slam events and 10 WTA 1000 events, in a year. The aforementioned tournaments are compulsory, and players are only exempt from losing points if they skip them due to injuries.

Gauff revealed during her press conference in Montreal that the WTA tournament is mandatory even though she intends to enjoy it. The American star added that she has an affection for the tournament.

One of the reasons is that it is a WTA 1000 and it is mandatory to play them (laughs). Seriously, it’s a great tournament, so I try not to miss any of these. Obviously, being American, I am very close to home, so it’s a very easy, very pleasant trip for me. I always enjoy it a lot here; the people are super affectionate. Also, I really like the change that happens every summer between Toronto and Montreal, it makes you approach the tournaments with a lot of freshness, as if everything were new.

Gauff’s best run at the Canadian Open came at the 2022 edition when she defeated Sabalenka in the round of 16 before losing to Simona Halep in the quarter-finals. Last year, she lost to Diana Shnaider in straight sets in the round of 16, just days after crashing out of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Coco Gauff feels Canadian Open conditions fit her game

Gauff enjoyed her best clay-court form of her career in 2025, reaching the final in Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros. Despite only winning the French Open, she did well to challenge for the titles. Going into the North American hard-court swing, there are many expectations from her to do better and perhaps win the Canadian Open as the top seed.

Coco Gauff Canadian Open 2025
Coco Gauff at the Canadian Open draw ceremony (image via Jimmie48 Photography)

Despite never getting past the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open, she revealed that the conditions of the tournament fit her playing style. The World No.2 added that she aims to learn from the event regardless of the final outcome.

I don’t know if these conditions suit my tennis well, history here indicates that I don’t usually perform well, my best result is reaching the quarterfinals, so I would love to do better. Definitely, this is a crucial tournament for me to have a good hard court tour. Regardless of the outcome, I think I can learn a lot here.

In the WTA rankings, Sabalenka sits at the top with 12,420 points and holds a 4,751 lead over Gauff. Sabalenka is set to drop at least 400 points after the event. However, if Gauff wins the Canadian Open, she will close the gap between her and the Belarusian ace to less than 4,000 points.

Also read: Lorenzo Musetti Discusses the Challenges of Having Too Much Variety in the Game