Coco Gauff will start her Wimbledon 2024 campaign in a bid to win the second Major of her career. Gauff made waves around the tennis world at the 2019 Wimbledon by reaching the 4R as a 15-year-old.
In the two Majors of the year so far, Gauff has made it to the semi-final stages of both the Australian and the French Open. She lost to Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek respectively. Away from the Majors, she won the Auckland Open, with a win over Elina Svitolina in the final. She also made semi-final appearances at the BNP Paribas Open and the Italian Open. In the grass-court season, Gauff made the semi-finals at the Berlin Ladies Open, losing to Jessica Pegula.
Here’s a look at the potential path to the Wimbledon final for the No. 2 seed
Coco Gauff’s 1R opponent- Caroline Dolehide
Coco Gauff will face fellow American Caroline Dolehide in the 1R of the 2024 Wimbledon. Dolehide has had an underwhelming season so far, with early-round exits at most tournaments. However, she had an impressive grass-court showing as she reached the quarter-finals of the Birmingham Classic, losing to eventual champion Yulia Putintseva.
Gauff has won both her encounters against Dolehide, the last of which came at the 2R of the 2024 Australian Open.
Coco Gauff’s likely 2R opponent- Elisabetta Cocciaretto
Gauff’s potential second-round opponent at the 2024 Wimbledon will be Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The Italian has not had a good result at any of the tournaments she has played this season. The one notable exception is the Morocco Open, where she reached the quarter-final, losing to Kamila Rakhimova. However, she has had a decent grass-court season so far, making a semi-final at the Birmingham Classic, losing to Yulia Putintseva.
Gauff has won all three of her matches against the Italian. The pair have met twice in 2024, at the Dubai Open and at the 4R of the French Open.
Gauff will potentially face her first seeded opponent at the 2024 Wimbledon in the form of 29th seed Sorana Cirstea in the 3R. The Romanian had a good start to her season as she made it to the quarter-finals of the Abu Dhabi Open (losing to Daria Kastakina), and the semi-final at the Qatar Open ( losing to Jasmine Paolini). However, since then, the Romnian’s results have gone downhill as she has struggled to make deep runs at any event. She is yet to win a match on grass in 2024.
Gauff won her only match against the Romanian at the 2R of the 2020 Australian Open.
Gauff’s potential 4R opponent at the 2024 Wimbledon could be either of Victoria Azarenka or Naomi Osaka. Both players have been former World No. 1 players on the WTA rankings. Azarenka has not won a title in 2024 yet, but she has made multiple deep runs at events. She made it to the semi-finals of the Brisbane International and the Miami Open, losing to Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. She made it to two quarter-finals, at the Charleston Open and the Italian Open, in the clay season. In the grass-court season, the Belarusian got to the semi-finals of the Berlin Ladies Singles, losing to Anna Kalinskaya.
Naomi Osaka is yet to make a meaningful run at any of the events in 2024 since she has come back to the tour. She reached the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open, losing to Karolina Pliskova. Even though Osaka lost in the French Open 2R, the former World No. 1 had match points against the current World No. 1 and French Open champion, Iga Swiatek.Azarenka has won the only encounter against Gauff in 2022 at Guadalajara. With Osaka, the American has a tied record of 2-2. Gauff won their last encounter in San Jose in 2022.
Coco Gauff’s likely QF opponent – Jasmine Paolini
The quarterfinal of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships might potentially see a clash between Gaufff and the runner-up of the 2024 French Open Jasmine Paolini. Apart from the French Open final, Paolini won the Dubai Tennis Championships, winning against Anna Kalinskaya. She also made it to the quarter-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, losing against Elena Rybakina. In the grass-court season she has reached the semifinals of the Eastbourne International where she is slated to play against Daria Kastakina.
Gauff has won both her encounters against Paolini, the last of which was at the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open in 2023.
Gauff’s likely opponent for the 2024 Wimbledon semi-final will be third seed Aryna Sabalenka. Apart from winning the Australian Open, Sabalenka has made it to three other finals in 2024. She lost to Elena Rybakina in the Brisbane International final and lost to Iga Swiatek in the finals of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open. The Belarusian however comes to Wimbledon under an injury cloud as she withdrew from her match against Anna Kalinskaya at the Berlin Ladies Open.
Gauff leads the head-to-head against Sabalenka 4-3. However, Sabalenka won the last encounter at the Australian Open semi-final this year.Should Sabalenka not make it from her section of the draw, Gauff might potentially face eighth seed Qinwen Zheng in the semi-final.
Coco Gauff’s likely final opponent- Iga Swiatek
Gauff potentially might face Iga Swiatek in the final of the 2024 Wimbledon. Swiatek has been on a dream run in 2024. The Polish World No. 1 is miles ahead of everyone as the as far as points are concerned. Swiatek has won five titles in this season including her fourth title at Roland Garros. She has won titles in Qatar, Indian Wells, Madrid, and Rome. However, Swiatek has yet to play a match on grass this season, and Wimbledon is her weakest Major so far.
Swaitek leads the head-to-head against Gauff in a lopsided margin of 11-1. The recent win for the Pole came at the semi-final of the French Open. However, the pair are yet to face each other on the grass.Swiatek herself faces a stiff draw at the 2024 Wimbledon. Should she not make it to the final, the possible opponent for Gauff in the final might be either Elena Rybakina or Ons Jabeur.