By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Where did the pro tennis career of Coco Gauff start?
Like so many American pro tennis players, it started on the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) Pro Circuit.
The United States circuit of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour provides opportunities for up-and-coming players (with the USTA’s focus mainly being American tennis players) to gain introductory experiences in professional tennis and earn their first ATP or WTA ranking points so they can move up and eventually play on the ATP and WTA Tours. It is the “minor leagues” of tennis.
Gauff, two months after her 14th birthday, first got her feet wet in professional tennis at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Osprey, Florida in May of 2018. She advanced through qualifying (winning her first pro match in the qualifying rounds 60 60) and the lost in the second round to Katerina Stewart. Three weeks later, Gauff played in the $25,000 event in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, again winning her first round qualifying match 6-0, 6-0 and again losing in the second round of the main draw, this time to Nika Kukharchuk of Russia. Gauff got a wild card into the U.S. Open qualifying rounds later in the summer with a ranking of No. 928.
Again in 2019, Gauff played the $100,000 Midland, Michigan USTA Pro Circuit event in February, reaching the second round. Then a week later with a WTA ranking of No. 582, she reached the final of the $25,000 USTA event in Surprise, Arizona, losing to Sesil Karantantcheva. After losing in the first round of the $150,000 Challenger in Indian Wells, Calif. and a second-round finish at the Miami Open as a wild card, Gauff moved her ranking to No. 345. She next played in the $80,000 USTA Challenger in Charlottesville, Va., losing in the first round, then advanced through qualifying and reached the quarterfinals of the $100,000 USTA event in Charleston, S.C., losing to Taylor Townsend.
The $100,000 event in Bonita Springs, Florida in 2019 was the last USTA Pro Circuit event of Gauff’s career. She lost in the first round to Quinn Gleason and her ranking was in the mid-300s. She was able to get a wild card into the qualifying rounds of Wimbledon weeks later, which is where the “Coco Mania” started as this was when Gauff advanced through the qualifying rounds, beat Venus Williams in the first round and reached the fourth round before losing to Simona Halep. From there, it was all “major league tennis” as she moved to the highest levels of professional tennis. But certainly, there is no doubting that this American tennis star got her start and first earned that confidence by playing in these important developmental tournaments in the United States.
