Coco Gauff enters U.S. Open full of confidence after a hot summer

Is this going to be Coco Gauff's U.S. Open? 

It sure looks possible as Gauff is riding a big wave of momentum into the tournament. The 19-year-old American has been given the prestigious first night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. 

Gauff comes into her Monday night opener against qualifier Laura Siegemund as the No. 6 seed. Gauff has won 11 of her last 12 matches and two titles since a first-round exit at Wimbledon. 

On Aug. 20, Gauff became the first teenager in more than 50 years to win the Western & Southern Open outside Cincinnati, Ohio, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Karolina Muchova.

The Open draw set up a potential quarterfinal matchup between Gauff and defending champion Iga Swiatek. Gauff beat Swiatek in the Western and Southern Open semifinals, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4. 

The Western and Southern title was Gauff’s first career victory at a WTA 1000-level tournament and included the first time she had beaten Swiatek in eight meetings, including the 2022 French Open final. In fact, Gauff had never taken a set from Swiatek. 

Two weeks earlier, Gauff had defeated Maria Sakkari, 6-2, 6-3, in the final of the DC Open for her first career win at a WTA 500-level tournament.

“August has been a great month for me,” Gauff said on media day on Friday. “It's been a great couple weeks for me. I'm really excited to go into the rest of this month. Hopefully a little bit into September, as well."

Gauff has been working with a new coach in former top 10 pro Brad Gilbert since her agent contacted the onetime Andre Agassi/Andy Roddick whisperer after her early exit at Wimbledon.

"Coco is a really hard worker," Gilbert told ESPN.com during the Western and Southern Open. "She's really humble and she's a great kid, and you really want great things to happen for her. She's had the tough burden the past few years of seeing other people winning Slams and thinking, 'OK, why not me?' But she's willing to do the work to get there."

Gauff said her red-hot summer has been sparked by more than just a new coach. 

“I think just confidence and trusting myself,” she said. “I think I trust the work that I've done in practice. I hope that I can continue to translate that into matches. 

“Obviously, have the new team around me. Seeing a different perspective can sometimes just change things completely. I think I have a new perspective and I'm enjoying it a lot.” 

Was the three-set, first-round Wimbledon loss to American Sofia Kenin a wake-up call for Gauff? Probably not in the way you would think. 

“Having that first-round loss at Wimbledon shows that it wasn't really as bad as it could happen,” Gauff said. “So I'm not going into this tournament worried if I lose early or not. I can't really control that result. I think now I'm going in with a lot more confidence. I feel like no matter the score line in the match, I can be able to problem solve and troubleshoot my way out.

“I know I can win matches not playing my best game now. I think I wasn't playing my best in every single match in D.C. and Cincinnati. It's impossible. I do feel I'm much more confident in my B or C game.” 

In last year's Open, Gauff lost in straight sets in the quarterfinals to Caroline Garcia.

On Monday night, Gauff will be followed on Ashe by Novak Djokovic, who returns to Flushing Meadows to face Alexandre Muller. Djokovic was not allowed to enter the U.S. during last year’s Open because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Swiatek will play in Monday's first match at Ashe at noon against Rebecca Peterson.

Tuesday night’s Ashe matchups will be Venus Williams vs. qualifier Greet Minnen and Carlos Alcaraz vs. Dominik Koepfer.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.