After the tour hiatus during the pandemic’s first wave last year, Gauff spent the remainder of the season wrestling with her second serve.ĭouble faults were frequent and often on important points, with Gauff landing 149 double faults in 2020 at a rate of 8.3 per match, the worst on the tour. Since February, she has won one title, reached two semi-finals, including in Rome, and two quarter-finals in seven events.Įven this early in her career, at a time when the second-best female player born in 2004 – Robin Montgomery – is ranked 349th, this has not been a seamless rise without friction or frustration. The key to any sustained success in the sport is learning how to perform consistently away from the biggest events. She is also 11th in the WTA race, the 2021-only rankings. By rising to a career high of 25th in the rankings, Gauff will not only be seeded in a slam for the first time at Roland Garros but is probably the favourite to secure the fourth and final US Olympic spot.
Gauff has compiled a 20 wins and six losses record since February and she is 9-3 during this clay season. On Saturday, Gauff took another step forward by beating Wang Qiang 6-1 6-3 to win her second WTA singles title, at the 250 event in Parma. Since then, however, there can be no doubt that Gauff is making clear and continuous progress on the tour and her progress is to be commended. There has also been ample discussion about her inability to immediately develop into a teenage grand slam contender. At a time when other young players were also thriving, it was also frequently argued that other players were deserving of her spotlight. The criticisms quickly became clear: her breakthrough may have been notable but Venus Williams was 38 years old and far from her best days, Osaka performed abysmally and Gauff was the beneficiary of helpful draws.
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