When Coco Gauff completed the perfect week at The United Cup by beating Iga Swiatek, her game and words carried a certainty that has not always been present in the last 12 months. The Australian Open can’t come soon enough for the 20-year-old American. She didn’t drop a set in Sydney over five singles matches. Confidence is fully reloaded.

“I have the belief that I’m one of the best players in the world. When I play good tennis, I’m hard to beat,” said Gauff after she defeated the Pole in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 in a high-quality affair. As the United States claimed the trophy with Taylor Fritz’s victory over Hubert Hurkacz, 2025 started with healthy vital signs for the Stars and Stripes in men’s and women’s singles.

Gauff has long been lauded as the one to take American tennis back to the dizzy heights. Her idol is Serena Williams for reasons that extend beyond the game although “double-digit” majors is the aim. The current World No. 3 decoded the safe to the Grand Slam riches in 2023 after driving Aryna Sabalenka to distraction in front of a raucous New York crowd. When Gauff successfully defended the Auckland Classic at the beginning of 2024, she had won 29 out of the last 33 singles matches. Logic suggested that more big silverware was on the cards.

The reality was different. Service implosions were common and emotional control went missing. Her progress at Melbourne was stopped by Sabalenka at the semifinal stage and she was beaten twice by compatriot Emma Navarro in the last 16 at both Flushing Meadows and Wimbledon. The last four French Open defeat by Swiatek was probably the most savage optically as she made 39 unforced errors, and had a fiery public argument with the umpire about the rules of the game, losing to her nemesis for the eleventh time in 12 attempts.

In mid-September, she split with Brad Gilbert after the second of those two defeats to Navarro in New York. It had become a painful watch, and while the double faults still cascaded down – there were 21 of them in her loss to Sabalenka at Wuhan in October – the change had been made for a reason. New trainer Matt Daly is a grip and technique specialist. Key areas were costing multiple cheap points. Reversing that negative spiral was essential to make her competitive. The results are promising in that tussle for early year supremacy.

The topspin on the American’s forehand is now asking questions of the World No. 2 and that has changed the dynamic of the match up as well as the last two results between them. Swiatek has also had to deal with the fear and furore that came after she was suspended for a month when testing positive for a heart medication, trimetazidine, which The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted was caused by contamination. The Pole’s stature in tennis is huge as a five-time Slam winner. The emotional rollercoaster of the doping saga and losing an Olympic dream on her favorite court has diminished her, however temporarily.

Sabalenka is the most likely candidate who stands between Gauff and that difficult second major. After beating Swiatek and the Belarusian at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Gauff had the strut of someone who believed again. She won the final in over three hours against Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen despite being a set and a break down, becoming the youngest champion since Maria Sharapova.

Now that she has changed the dial on the head to head record with Swiatek – which was taking on lopsided Sharapova versus Serena proportions– there are many Grand Slams out there for the taking.

The iron will allied to a more stable game equals more jackpots on and off the court. Her ability to speak clearly on social issues is inherent and emphatic. When she takes that approach onto the court, it creates a wall of defiance that is difficult to knock down. Gauff has spoken about that 2023 U.S. Open final win when she woke up feeling that she couldn’t lose.

“I started tennis at six. I’m so excited to see, if I continue to work hard, what other success I can have in the future,” a 15-year-old Gauff said when she lost to Simona Halep in the last 16 at Wimbledon. The subsequent six years have brought plenty, but there’s more to come. The Australian Open is a good place to start the next phase.