World No. 3 Coco Gauff is setting her schedule for the upcoming 2025 tennis season. The 20-year-old American, who concluded her 2024 season with a WTA Finals maiden win, is not following the status quo she has done for the past couple of years.
Coco Gauff starting and finishing the year on top 🤩
🏆 ASB Classic in Auckland – January 2024
🏆 WTA Finals in Riyadh – November 2024#WTAFinalsRiyadh pic.twitter.com/DairzRLGlG— Eurosport (@eurosport) November 10, 2024
A notable change is that Gauff will not be going for the three-peat at January’s ASB Classic in New Zealand. The 2023 and 2024 ASB Classic champion is skipping the WTA250 tournament, slated to begin on December 30.
back2back🏆🏆 @ASB_Classic
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) January 7, 2024
What Coco Gauff Is Doing Instead
Gauff is not taking extra time off. She will travel to Perth, Australia, and represent the United States in the mixed-gender United Cup tournament. The US team will play Canada in the first round. Gauff’s opening match is December 29 against Leylah Fernandez.
🇺🇸 @CocoGauff for Team USA – enough said 🗣️ #UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/zwO89dXzpH
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) November 27, 2024
Coco Gauff has never played in the United Cup before, but traditionally Jessica Pegula has. Danielle Collins is the other women’s singles player on the US team. Taylor Fritz is the top-ranked US man on the team. Fritz and Pegula combined to play doubles to help the US earn the 2023 United Cup title.
Will Gauff Make Other Adjustments?
The 11-month tennis season is a marathon and a grind, so it is not surprising players make adjustments if they can. It is critical to defend ranking points year after year to maintain a ranking so those decisions can be more difficult.
Gauff did not win a Grand Slam singles title in 2024 but won the French Open doubles title with Katerina Siniakova.
With new coach Matt Daly, she will likely prioritize improving her impressive results at the Australian Open (2024 semifinalist) and French Open (2022) hoping to win one or both of these Grand Slams.
Aryna Sabalenka is the two-time defending Australian Open champion so Gauff will have tough competition in Melbourne.
