Coco Gauff faces rankings battle as American star gears up for US Open defence

2023 was the summer of Coco Gauff.

The American was the dominant figure through the summer hard-court swing, which culminated in a memorable victory at the US Open in the early part of September.

Twelve months later, Gauff and the WTA are back on the hard courts of North America – and arguably there is more pressure on her this time around.

The 20-year-old faces the task of having to defend her ranking points from a year ago, with several key contenders waiting in the wings to potentially dislodge her.

Ahead of her return this week, we look at what she faces across the next month.

Last summer
Twelve months ago, Gauff provided a near-perfect response to an opening-round Wimbledon exit – by storming through the hard-court summer.

Then still a teenager, the American started her summer with victory at the WTA 500 event in Washington, easing past Maria Sakkari in the final.

That was followed by her first WTA 1000 triumph in Cincinnati, beating Iga Swiatek for the first time before downing Karolina Muchova in the final.

And, of course, her summer was bookended by her stunning run to a maiden major title.

Gauff beat Jelena Ostapenko and Muchova to reach the US Open final, where she rallied from a set down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka.

Those victories earned her over 3,000 ranking points, and now comes the hard work to try and defend as many as possible.

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