Last year, Coco Gauff went on to win her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open. While it was a turning point in her career, the American sensation was on the path to stardom ever since she paired up with Roger Federer’s best friend, Tony Godsick. The latter has been a long-time agent of Gauff and has carefully managed the business aspect of Gauff’s career. Further, a lot has changed since Gauff signed for Godsick’s sports management firm, Team8.

Back in 2013, Roger Federer and Tony Godsick teamed up to form a sports management agency, Team8. Federer and Godsick have had a long relationship since the latter managed the Swiss maestro’s business affairs since 2005. Apart from this, Godsick has also worked at IMG and managed the likes of Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, and Anna Kournikova. However, it was just before the start of Gauff’s professional journey that she decided to sign up for Team8 in late 2017, when she was just 13 years.

A few months after the two paired up, Gauff made history by becoming the youngest US Open girl’s singles finalist in history, finishing runner-up at the 2017 US Open when she was just 13 years old. Under the aegis of Team8, Gauff has also gone on to become the world’s highest-earning female athlete, taking home over $30 million, whose $9.4 million winnings joined $21 million in endorsements, this year. This is over $7m from her $22.7 million in 2023. She is just the third woman in sports history to crack $30M in annual income, joining Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams.

Talking about managing Gauff and her career, Godsick once heaped praise on the American sensation and said, “If you look in the world right now, there is very few iconic global female athletes. Tennis, that’s the most remarkable thing about this sport, is so global. And all the most famous female athletes, and the most successful off the court in terms of endorsements, have always been tennis players. And so, she will be that next one, and she has the potential to be that next one.”

Meanwhile, Gauff has already begun her preparations for the 2025 season. Ahead of the start of the next season, American legend Rennae Stubbs rated her chances for winning the Australian Open.

Will Coco Gauff win the 2025 Australian Open? Rennae Stubbs has the answer

Despite not having the best of the seasons this year, Gauff ended the year on a high by winning the WTA Finals title. This showed that she has tremendous grit and determination to overcome tough times. Gauff would look to ride the momentum of this win and make a victorious start to the next season.

Talking about her Australian Open chances, Stubbs said, “It will be interesting to see how going out of indoors – because we know playing indoors helps your serve. I want to see how she can handle that going outdoors, with the sun and elements etc because I think if she can get a more consistent kick serve that would be huge.”

Further, she went on to add, “That would take perfect timing right now to work on that. That’s all she needs to work on, the serve. The forehand is getting better, that will be okay. Her biggest issue is the serve, if she is double-faulting she is hurting herself big time. I think she is a real threat at the Australian Open, if that is under control.”

While Gauff will play in the United Cup before the Australian Open, Gauff will not be going for the three-peat at January’s ASB Classic in New Zealand. It’ll be interesting to see how she performs at the Grand Slam Down Under next year.