Coco Gauff set for WTA Rankings drop after her US Open title defence ends
Coco Gauff will drop out of the top five of the WTA Rankings for the first time in over a year after her fourth round exit at the 2024 US Open.
The 20-year-old’s title defence at her home Grand Slam ended with a 3-6, 6-4, 3-6 defeat to fellow American Emma Navarro in Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows.
Gauff was plagued by issues with her serve in the last 16 contest as she hit 19 double faults, landed only 46% of her first serves and was broken four times.
Navarro, the world No 12, has now beaten Gauff in the fourth round at two consecutive majors after her straight-set victory at the same stage at Wimbledon in July.
The 23-year-old will take on 26th seed Paula Badosa in the quarter-finals and she has risen to 10th in the live WTA Rankings, which will be a new career-high position.
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Gauff was ranked third in the world heading into the tournament, but she has dropped to sixth in the live WTA Rankings. The last time Gauff was not ranked in the top five was August last year, just before she claimed her maiden major at the 2023 US Open.
The American will lose 1,760 points when the WTA Rankings update, taking her points total from 6,743 to 4,983. Jasmine Paolini and Jessica Pegula have climbed above Gauff into fourth and fifth place respectively in the live rankings.
In her press conference after losing to Navarro, Gauff reflected: “It’s not the summer that I want. I feel like there’s, like, 70 other players in the draw that would love to have the summer that I had.
“Obviously because I’m wanting to reach a different level, it is disappointing, but I’m not going to beat myself up and be, like, ‘This was so bad.’ Yeah, I expect better, but at the end of the day, it happened, and I know I can turn it around.”
Gauff secured her only title since her 2023 US Open triumph at the Auckland Open WTA 250 tournament in January.
The 20-year-old star has lost before the quarter-finals at her last five events since reaching the semi-finals of the Berlin Open in June
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