Former World No.1 Urges Coco Gauff to Start Preparing for Cincinnati Open After Montreal Upset

Coco Gauff crashed out of the Canadian Open after a straight-set defeat to teen sensation Victoria Mboko in the fourth round of the Canadian Open. This means Gauff has once again failed to progress beyond the quarterfinals in the Montreal 1000 event.

Former World No.1 Lindsay Davenport urged the 21-year-old to start her preparation for the next tournament- the Cincinnati Masters. She thinks Gauff is a bit complacent at present because of her French Open win. But according to the three-time Grand Slam champion, forgetting about the big win and focusing on the next task should be the mentality of the champions. She said on the Tennis Channel Live podcast:

It’s not a perfect situation for her to be unhooked. I mean, the pressure’s off. She’s won her second major, but when you’ve won majors and your goal is to be number one in the world and to be the best, this is not okay.

Gauff reached the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Last year, her run ended in the third round.

No question she is like, ‘Okay, I got to get better for the U.S. Open. It’s got to start now. I’d imagine she’s back on the practice court today or tomorrow, working on things to try and get some momentum in Cincy.

Lindsay Davenport added

At the French Open, Gauff came from a set down to deny World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka her first French Open title as well as her first Major of the season. It was Gauff’s first singles win and second overall win (won the doubles in 2024 along with Katerina Siniakova) at Roland Garros.

Jon Wertheim slams the WTA after Victoria Mboko beats Coco Gauff

Victoria Mboko reached the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career. She made her WTA 1000 main draw debut this season at the Miami Open, where her campaign ended in the second round.

Next, Coco Gauff knocked her out in the second round of the Italian Open before reaching the final and losing the match to home favorite Jasmine Paolini. After her victory over Gauff, journalist Jon Wertheim took to X and questioned the WTA why they have not yet put up a profile picture of the teen sensation on their website.

Imagine you’re a casual fan, interested in learning more about this hyper-talented teenager on the cusp of a huge upset…and seeing this:

Check out his post here:

Imagine you're a casual fan, interested in learning more about this hyper-talented teenager on the cusp of a huge upset…and seeing this: pic.twitter.com/FkhKzKQMAn

— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) August 3, 2025

Mboko will next be locking horns with Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the quarterfinals. She will become the first Canadian woman since Bianca Andreescu in 2019 to win the tournament.

Coco Gauff will continue to remain as World No.2

Gauff would have lost her No.2 ranking to Iga Swiatek had the latter reached the final and won the title. But Gauff will continue to occupy the second spot because the Pole, too, got knocked out of the tournament. Gauff and Swiatek currently have 7789 and 6933 points on the live rankings, respectively.

Clara Tauson secured a berth in the quarterfinals with a straight-set win over the six-time Grand Slam champion in the fourth round. It was her first victory over the former World No.1 after three back-to-back defeats.

Swiatek was a semifinalist in the tournament in 2023 (lost that match to eventual champion Jessica Pegula). But last year, she had skipped the tournament.

Next is the Cincinnati Masters, and Swiatek will this time be hoping to progress beyond the semifinals. In 2023 and 2024, she had made it to the last four but was defeated by eventual champions Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka.

Also read: Jasmine Paolini Puts Down Rumors of Collaborations With Goran Ivanisevic After Rough Patch