By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday March 25, 2022
Ash Barty’s shock retirement at the age of 25 will accelerate a change that has already been in motion for some time. It is a new era in the WTA, and an exciting time to be a young player in the sport.
Coco Gauff, who recently turned 18 and is the youngest player inside the WTA’s top-100 (and top-20), is excited to see how the future plays out.
“I would say definitely the game is going through kind of a shift right now, both sides, women and male side of young players coming up,” Gauff said on Friday in Miami after defeating China’s Wang Qiang, 7-5, 6-4. “So I would say there is definitely a generational shift happening right now. Yeah, I'm glad that I'm a part of it.”
What will it take for Gauff to start cashing in on some of her talent at the Grand Slam stage? The American reached her first major quarterfinal last year at Roland-Garros, but has yet to reach further. The current World No.17 says it is just a matter of experience and, as she puts it, mental maturity.
“I feel like for me, I mean, definitely I feel like I can go far in slams,” Gauff told reporters. “For me I think it's more of a mental thing, when am I mentally matured enough to win one.”
If you're scoring at home, add three-time Slam champion Lindsay Davenport to the list of those who believe Gauff's time to shine might be coming in the very near future.
"Coco Gauff is going to break through at a really big event really soon," she said in a conference call to promote Tennis Channel's coverage of the BNP Paribas Open a few weeks back. "I hope it's sooner rather than later. I don't know if it'll be at Indian Wells or if it'll be at the French Open or somewhere. She's in for a big title run."
Gauff believes her game is where it needs to be – it is simply a question of fine-tuning her mentality.
“I feel like I have all the physical attributes and the game and everything,” she said. “I think that's kind of like a lot of players on the tour, we are all pretty physically fit. We all have big serves or big forehands or some type of weapon that helps us win matches.
“I think what really sets the other players, Grand Slam champions apart from the rest is probably their mentality. I'm hoping and have been working on trying to be mentally mature to make it far in slams and hopefully win one.”