American Star Coco Gauff Steers Clear of Serena Williams-Like Expectations With a Confident Statement – ‘I Don’t Check My Ranking’

American tennis prodigy Coco Gauff is having a great year. The 18-year-old has performed consistently and, as a reward, she has booked her place in the WTA Finals. Currently, the American is featuring in the Guadalajara Open. She will start her campaign against Martina Trevisan today.

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old interacted with the press and spoke about various things related to her career and future plans. On the back of her consistent performance, she has climbed up the ranking ladder to the world number 7 spot. However, she is least concerned about the rankings.

Rankings don’t matter for Coco Gauff

In her recent interaction with the press, the 18-year-old spoke about her recent climb in rankings. Further, when asked if she aspires to be world number 1 someday like her idol Serena Williams, the American replied, “I’m going to be honest, being No. 1 is not one of my goals. I’ve always not focused on ranking. I think it’s just the way my dad taught me, even in juniors. I don’t check my ranking. If I reach No. 1 it would be great.”

Further, she spoke about her actual goal. “My goal is to win Grand Slams. Obviously, if you win grand slams, the ranking will come. That’s always what my dad has told me. And that’s why I’m not so focused on that number because I feel like when you step on the court, no matter if you are ranked No. 1 or 200, you have an equal opportunity to win.”

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Although the 18-year-old is not thinking about it, she is very close and if she maintains her consistency, we might see her on the top soon.

Gauff becomes youngest after Maria Sharapova to qualify for WTA Finals

Even though Gauff is still titleless in the singles this year, she was very consistent. Her consistency saw her rise in the rankings and now she has made another record. The 18-year-old who is only four months short of her 19th birthday became the youngest in almost two decades to qualify for the WTA Finals. Back in 2004, Sharapova did it at an age of 18 years and 208 days.

The next target, as she mentioned in the interview, is to win a Grand Slam. Although she made it to the final of the French Open and had a quarterfinal run in the US Open, the 18-year-old is yet to cross the final barrier.

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Can she do it next year? Let us know in the comments.