Coco Gauff reveals ‘consistency’ goal as world No 1 ranking ambition addressed

Oli Dickson Jefford 03 Jan 2026 4:00 PM

Coco Gauff in action (Wuhan Open/CVG)

Coco Gauff has revealed that a ‘consistent’ season is her main target for 2026, as she also opened up about potentially rising to world No 1 for the first time.

Gauff lifted her second Grand Slam singles title during 2025, beating world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka to lift the French Open title, and also triumphed at the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open in October, alongside further runner-up finishes at clay WTA 1000 events in Madrid and Rome during the spring.

The 21-year-old finished the season ranked third in the world, having also finished 2023 and 2024 as the world No 3; in all three years, it has been Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek ahead of her in the year-end standings.

The American’s clay-court season was by far and away the highlight of her year, while her Asian swing was also strong — reaching the semi-final of the China Open before her triumph in Wuhan.

It was undoubtedly a successful season for Gauff, but her results were bumpy at times across 2025, highlighted by her opening-round defeat to Dayana Yastremska at Wimbledon.

The American also struggled during the Middle East and ‘Sunshine Double’ swings across February and March, and a disappointing hard-court summer culminated in a second straight fourth-round loss at the US Open.

Speaking ahead of the start of her 2026 season at the United Cup, Gauff revealed her target for the year was to have more level results during the season — while touching upon the possibility of becoming world No 1.

“I think just consistency,” said Gauff, when asked about her ambitions.

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“I would like to go deep in all the Slams this year. Yeah, obviously I would like to touch [the] No 1 ranking. That would be pretty cool. But yeah, I think just being consistent throughout the year.”

Gauff first reached her career-high ranking of world No 2 in June 2024, and was again ranked second in the world during parts of 2025.

She is currently 1,659 points behind world No 2 Swiatek and 4,107 points behind world No 1 Sabalenka in the WTA Rankings, with Sabalenka having reigned as the world No 1 since October 2024.

Gauff is set to drop down to world No 4 in next week’s WTA Rankings and lose her US No 1 status to Amanda Anisimova, who will be the top-ranked American woman for the first time.

The shift comes due to the 2026 WTA season starting the calendar week later than the 2025 season did, with the 21-year-old’s 2025 United Cup points set to come off her ranking.

However, she is in action at the mixed team event once again this year, and has already picked up her opening win of the tournament.

Gauff was in fine form as she dispatched Argentina’s Solana Sierra 6-1, 6-1 inside Perth’s RAC Arena, needing just 57 minutes to seal her first match win of the new season.

The reigning French Open champion is also set to face Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain during the round robin stage of the event, before potential further singles matches during the knockout round.

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