As the French Open swiftly approaches, Coco Gauff is eager to end her three-year title drought on the clay which she describes as one of her favourite surfaces.
The world No.3 has only claimed one Tour-level trophy on the dirt so far in her career which was at the 2021 Parma Open in Italy. However, she has proven herself to be a force on the surface by reaching the quarter-finals or better at the French Open on three separate occasions. Something she has yet to do at any other major event. Her best Roland Garros performance was in 2022 when she finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek.
Gauff returns to competitive tennis this week at the stacked Stuttgart Grand Prix which has eight out of the world’s top 10 players in the draw. The American says she is ‘optimistic’ heading into the clay swing following what has been a solid first quarter of the season.
“I think clay and hard are definitely my favorite surfaces,” Gauff said during a pre-tournament press conference in Stuttgart. “Again, I can play well on all of them depending on how I show up to a tournament, honestly.
“But for the clay court season this year, I’m really optimistic. Obviously, the goal is to win the French Open, but that’s every season of any top player. I mean, your goals should be to try to win the big tournament.”
With big ambitions, a determined Gauff is hoping to win one of the three big events leading up to the French Open. Recently, she rehired Jean-Cristophe Faurel to her team, which is currently being led by Brad Gilbert. Faurel started working with the tennis star when she was 14 but ended up having to stop their collaboration due to travel problems related to his Visa. An issue that has now been solved.
“I’m not looking at French Open right now. I’m focused on Stuttgart,” Gauff stated. “I want to win, try to win Madrid or Rome or here, just because I can’t remember — the last time I won a clay court title was, like, a couple years ago if I’m not mistaken.
“So I kind of just want to get a recent clay title under my belt. So any of the ones along the next couple weeks would be nice.”
Gauff is the third seed in Stuttgart after Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. Her opening match will be against compatriot Sachia Vickery. If she wins, Gauff will move into her seventh Tour-level quarter-final on the clay of her career.
