Stephanie Livaudais: Is a player who has reached her first Grand Slam singles final, qualified for the WTA Finals and earned a career-high Top 5 ranking…ready to make “the leap” in 2023? This question would usually be an easy yes. But when it comes to Coco, my first instinct is often to give her extra leeway, to allow her the benefit of the doubt because of her age.
This bit of “doubt” is actually healthy for teen phenoms in tennis, a sport known to eat its young with pressure and media attention. Asking this sort of question after the best season of the 18-year-old’s nascent career is a sign that the sport is course-correcting in the right direction. But as Billie Jean King famously said, “Pressure is a privilege”, and it’s time to give Gauff the benefit of feeling some pressure by expecting great things from her next season.
The American has already shown she is ready to compete for the sport’s biggest trophies. But her 3-11 record against the WTA’s Top 10 means there is still homework to do.