Coco Gauff’s Roland Garros prep couldn’t have gone much better. The 25th-ranked American beat Maria Sakkari, Aryna Sabalenka and world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty at the prestigious Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (before falling in a tight two-setter to Iga Swiatek), and she went all the way—in both singles and doubles—at the nearby WTA 250 in Parma. As you may have guessed, Gauff lifted the doubles trophy alongside her regular partner, Caty McNally.
McNally and Gauff have now won three WTA doubles titles in their remarkably brief careers. Given their chemistry, they would have been a viable darkhorse pick to go deep at Roland Garros. But “McCoco” was forced to wait another year, as McNally was injured during singles qualifying.
Enter VeCoco.
Both Venus Williams and Gauff will play their first singles matches on the terre battue on Tuesday, but their most anticipated match is their surprise doubles pairing. The 40-year-old and the 17-year-old will face the 13th-seeded team of Zheng Saisai and Ellen Perez on Wednesday, and unlike the empty stadium you see in this video, VeCoco will draw as packed a crowd as possible: