Coco Gauff’s rising career hits a bump before she defends her first Grand Slam title

Yes, Coco Gauff is a Grand Slam champion. Yes, she’s been ranked No. 1 in doubles and No. 2 in singles. Yes, she’s already a big star who transcends her sport and was a flag bearer alongside LeBron James at the Paris 2024 Olympics … and has a signature shoe … and is featured on Wheaties boxes and … and … and …

And yet, back in New York for Monday’s start of the U.S. Open, which she won a year ago for her first major trophy — the first American teen to do so since Serena Williams in 1999 — Gauff still occasionally might sound like someone who deals with impostor syndrome.

Put simply: She does not quite understand what all the fuss is about.

“I just thought I was nobody,” Gauff said. “The whole flag bearer thing is still mind-blowing to me. Like, ’Why am I up there?’”

As she wandered around the athlete’s village, Gauff often was stopped by other Olympians hoping they could pose with her for a photo.

“I’m like, ‘Can I get a selfie with you, too?’ I just wasn’t really expecting this,” the Floridian said. “Maybe I just don’t get it.”

When she was asked less than a month ago for her thoughts on the U.S. Open and its importance to her still-nascent career, Gauff replied: “It hasn’t been on my mind.”

Gauff said she was instead focused on the 2024 Games and soaking up that experience fully.

“She’s really embraced her star power, kind of,” said Jessica Pegula, a top-10 singles player and Gauff’s frequent doubles partner, “but at the same time, she’s like a kid.”

The off-court aspects of Gauff’s Olympics debut were a huge success: meeting James; collecting pins; the college-style getting to know folks of various backgrounds; chatting at breakfast with athletes such as 100-meter dash gold medalist Noah Lyles.

“He’s probably the most confident (athlete) I ever met in my life,” Gauff said, “other than maybe Serena.”

The on-court results in France? Not as gratifying.

Gauff exited in the third round of singles after arguing with the chair umpire over a late call, then lost her second match in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

“I’ll try to take the positive out of it,” Gauff said, “and do better next time.”

With her title defence — a term she says she doesn’t love — about to begin, Gauff is going through a rough stretch of results.

She was eliminated in the fourth round at Wimbledon while visibly upset at her coach, Brad Gilbert. After the struggles at the Olympics, she moved to the hard courts to prepare for New York and that did not go well: Gauff lost her second match in Toronto and her first in Cincinnati. Her ranking slid from No. 2 to No. 3.

Hardly the ideal leadup she enjoyed in 2023 by winning 11 of 12 matches and titles at Washington and Cincinnati before arriving at the U.S. Open for her star-making turn.

“She’s getting constant attention, all the time, and that’s a lot to deal with,” said Emma Navarro, who beat Gauff at Wimbledon and was her U.S. teammate at the Olympics. “I have a lot of respect for her and how she handles that.”

It will be fascinating to see how Gauff does when the lights come on in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Her initial opponent is Varvara Gracheva, who lost in the first round the past two years in New York.

“You just don’t know — you don’t consciously know — the expectations that creep into your cells in your body,” said Chris Evert, a six-time U.S. Open champion and now an ESPN analyst. “Everybody, from Day 1, has thought about Coco: ‘She’s the next Serena Williams. She’s going to be the next one that dominates.’ That stays with you for a long time.”

There will be other storylines of interest, from top-ranked Jannik Sinner’s recent doping case to defending champion Novak Djokovic’s bid for a 25th Grand Slam title to Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka vying for a second major championship of 2024 to the U.S. men trying to end a 21-year Slam drought.

Gauff could face the most scrutiny of anyone.

“I have a lot more aspirations obviously than just winning one (major),” she said. “I think the start of one just gives you a taste and gives you the belief that you can do it again.”