Shrugging off slump will be Gauff’s challenge at US Open

Coco Gauff. Pic/Getty Images

Yes, Coco Gauff is a Grand Slam champion. Yes, she's been ranked No. 1 in doubles and No. 2 in singles. Yes, she's already a big star who transcends her sport and was a flag bearer alongside LeBron James at the Paris Olympics... and has a signature shoe...and is featured on Wheaties boxes and...and...and ...

And yet, back in New York for Monday's start of the US Open, which she won a year ago for her first major trophy - the first American teen to do so since Serena Williams in 1999 - Gauff still occasionally might sound like someone who deals with impostor syndrome.

Also Read: Tearful Gauff feels cheated

Gauff is going through a slump as she goes back to the US Open. With her title defense - a term she says she doesn't love - about to begin, Gauff is going through a rough stretch of results. She was eliminated in the fourth round at Wimbledon while visibly upset at her coach, Brad Gilbert. After the struggles at the Olympics, she moved to the hard courts to prepare for New York and that did not go well: Gauff lost her second match in Toronto and her first in Cincinnati. Her ranking slid from No. 2 to No. 3.

Hardly the ideal leadup she enjoyed in 2023 by winning 11 of 12 matches and titles at Washington and Cincinnati before arriving at the US Open for her star-making turn. Put simply: She does not quite understand what all the fuss is about.

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