Stat of the Day: Coco Gauff to become youngest player to compete in both singles and doubles at WTA Finals in same year since Anna Kournikova in 1999

Kournikova was a slightly younger 18 when she played both events at the year-end championships that year.

Published Oct 20, 2022

Interview: Coco Gauff

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By virtue of the results at the WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara today, Coco Gauff has qualified for WTA Finals in singles for the first time—in two weeks she’ll be in Fort Worth, Texas, battling it out with the best of the best for the biggest title of her career.

Additionally, Gauff had already qualified for the WTA Finals in doubles last week alongside fellow American Jessica Pegula.

At 18 years and 7 months, Gauff will be the youngest player to compete in both singles and doubles at the WTA Finals in the same year since 1999, when Anna Kournikova did double duty there at age 18 years and 5 months.

Kournikova won the doubles title alongside Martina Hingis that year, but fell to Mary Pierce in the first round in singles (it was a 16-player, single-elimination draw then).

Serena Williams qualified for both singles and doubles at the WTA Finals in 1999 too, but had to withdraw due to a back injury. She was 18 years and 1 month old.

“I’m just super excited,” Gauff said after her 7-6 (1), 6-3 second-round victory over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto in Guadalajara on Wednesday. “I wasn’t really thinking about it, to be honest, before the match—but I’m really excited to join Jess up there. She qualified last week, so I’m just happy I was able to do it here.

“It’s my first WTA Finals for singles and doubles, and I’m happy I could buy one, get one free—so two for one.”

In terms of just singles, Gauff will be the youngest woman to compete at the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2005 (she was 18 years and 6 months at the time).

Gauff will be the first teenager of any age to compete in both singles and doubles at the WTA Finals since a 19-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2004.

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Gauff’s singles highlights so far in 2022 include reaching the quarterfinals or better at seven WTA events, including at six of the last eight WTA events she’s played. She reached her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek, as well as another major quarterfinal at the US Open, falling to Caroline Garcia.

This week, she set a new career-high of No. 7 in singles.

In doubles, she’s won three titles this year, all with Pegula—two WTA 1000s (Doha and Toronto) and a WTA 500 (San Diego). They also reached the Roland Garros final.

Gauff reached No. 1 on the WTA doubles rankings on August 15th, after she and Pegula’s triumph in Toronto. She’s currently ranked No. 3 in doubles.

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