Delray Teen Gauff Ends 2019 WTA Campaign with Another Title

Delray Beach teen Coco Gauff capped an incredible pro debut season last Sunday when “Team McCoco,” Gauff and American compatriot Caty McNally, won the title at the Luxembourg Open WTA International.

It was the second WTA doubles title of 2019 for the 15-year-old Gauff and 17-year-old McNally, who also won at the Citi Open this summer in Washington, D.C.

The pair in the final defeated No. 2 seeds Kaitlyn Christian of the U.S. and Chile’s Alexa Guarachi 6-2, 6-2.

“I’d like to thank Coco for playing with me,” McNally said in the trophy presentation. “She’s an awesome girl and an awesome player, and I hope this is just the second of many WTA titles. All the fans that supported us in singles, and in doubles, that means a lot.”

Gauff and McNally beat three seeded teams in their four matches.

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“When we go on the court, we kind of understand each other,” McNally said. “On the court, our games mesh together really well. Coco has a really big serve and she hits a really big ball from the baseline, and I enjoy the poaching at the net.”

Gauff began her Cinderella year ranked in the 600s in singles, playing the ITF circuit, and in her first tournament lost in the second round in an event in Midland, Mich. Her first final on the ITF circuit came in her next week in Surprise, Ariz., where she toppled two seeds before falling to No. 3 seed Sesil Karatantcheva in the final after winning the first set.

Her first impact at the WTA level came in April during the clay court season in Charlotte where she qualified and ran to the quarterfinals before losing to fellow American Taylor Townsend in three sets. She lost in the qualifying at the French Open, but at Wimbledon broke out, qualifying then beating her idol Venus Williams en route to the round of 16.

Receiving a wild card at the US Open, she won two rounds before running into top seed Naomi Osaka and losing 6-3, 6-0, where afterwards Osaka pulled Gauff on the court with her for a joint on-court interview in a show of sportspersonship.

In her next event at Linz, Australia, Gauff lost in the qualifying but gained the main draw as a “lucky loser.” She made the most of the opportunity, beating top-seeded Kiki Bertens en route to the final where he upset former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenkofor her first WTA singles title.

Ending her 2019 campaign at No. 69 on the WTA rankings, Gauff will next travel to Australia in January 2020 and look to make her first appearance in the Australian Open main draw.