Coco Gauff will Surpass Iga Swiatek for #1 in 2026.

Will Coco Gauff reach #1 in 2026?

  • Will Coco reach

  • Yes

  • No

  • Never


Results are only viewable after voting.

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
I don’t usually make this type of prediction.

But with so many quick to pounce on her loss today and gloat about her poor H2H vs. the only remaining player ahead of her in the rankings, now is the time to set the record straight on what’s going to go down in the near future.

Come at me!
 

Jonesy

Legend
At least tells us how she would do it, OP. The only path i can see Coco going to surpass Iga is going the full trickster style. A lot of net game and mixing spins and drop shots to disrupt Iga.

Can Coco really improve to pull that is a big if.
 
D

Deleted member 810491

Guest
LOL@Gauff
Swiatek and Sabalenka going to magically disappear?
Neither of them have even reached their peak yet...
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Coco:

coco.jpg
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
At least tells us how she would do it, OP. The only path i can see Coco going to surpass Iga is going the full trickster style. A lot of net game and mixing spins and drop shots to disrupt Iga.

Can Coco really improve to pull that is a big if.
Go back and watch some tape of teen Coco. I never would have guessed 4 years ago that she could evolve her topspin forehand into the current level of reliability. She had to slice most of her forehands not that long ago. Since her current forehand technique is a relatively new shot, I foresee her improving relative to the field over the next 2 years, enabling her to fully leverage her formidable edge in court coverage and athleticism.

I also foresee her making improvements in her serve reliability. She double faults a lot.

By 2026, she’s going to be the woman to beat.
 

BenC

Hall of Fame
Surpass Iga, if she gets bored or injured.

#1? you know and I know that whoever taught and let her keep that busted FH stacked the deck against her. Tennis is hard enough, there's still decent opponents around who make it harder, and when you're fighting your own FH ...
 

ChrisRF

Legend
Iga is the new Steffi.
To some degree yes, but she REALLY needs another non-clay-Slam as soon as possible, or there will be some accusations of just being a specialist.

Otherwise Gauff might win quite a few fast court Slams herself in the near future.

I don't mind that much though, because while Iga is my favorite WTA player (and actually my favorite female sportsperson together with skier Mikaela Shiffrin), Coco comes second for me.
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
#1? you know and I know that whoever taught and let her keep that busted FH stacked the deck against her. Tennis is hard enough, there's still decent opponents around who make it harder, and when you're fighting your own FH ...
A dodgy hit-or-miss forehand didn’t stop Venus from winning 5 Wimbledons.
 
More seriously, even though she is very young and has already achieved so much, I am not sure how much more Gauff's game can significantly improve, IMO if she is not at her peak she is close to it. Physically she is one of the best athletes on tour with absolutely elite movement and speed, her BH is her best shot and probably at its peak, her net game is solid... She is quite a complete player in most areas except her infamous FH. That's the shot that could make her ascend to even greater heights, but I am skeptical regarding her being able to fix her flawed technqiue on that side at this point of her career, chances are it's already to late and it will never become an elite shot. She can remain a top player for years and grab more slams with the right opponents but she probably won't be a dominant world number 1, still she could have that top spot for a few weeks, but not holding on to it for months and months like Swiatek currently does.
 

Tennisfan339

Professional
I would love that, Coco is the top-4 I support the most (not just because she is American... for plenty of other reasons). Maybe one day she will surpass Swiatek and be number #1 but a lot will have to happen in the meantime. Maybe a bad injury for Swiatek (I don't wish that) or Coco making major changes in her game. Her forehand is a serious weakness (though it's less apparent on clay). Her serve can still improve. In the near future, it's getting harder and harder to believe she will finally beat Swiatek and surpass her. When they're both closer to the thirties, maybe it will change but right now, I'm not quite optimistic. I would like to watch a match on grass and maybe another one in Cincinnati maybe. Fast courts would help her a lot. If she can get a few wins on more favorable courts, maybe she'll grow more self-confidence.
 

BenC

Hall of Fame
A dodgy hit-or-miss forehand didn’t stop Venus from winning 5 Wimbledons.
pure speculation here since I didn't watch much WTA back then ... isn't grass the surface you'd want for hiding a weakness like that? fast surface, lower bounce, shorter points, serve dependent, etc ...

edit: which is apparently Gauff's worst surface, so I know nothing really
 
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Razer

G.O.A.T.
Iga is still the face of WTA in the post Serena era, a poor one but this is still here to stay. There no coco replacing her, this coco is overrated, she is nothing... Maybe osaka can again take control of WTA along with Sabalenka? Time will tell....but no coco....
 

Wander

Hall of Fame
In over two years anything is possible. Even a new threat to #1 emerging is (distantly) possible. Gauff is such a consistent presence at the tail-end of tournaments that she certainly has a very good chance of spending some weeks at #1. Even right now, all she would need is for Iga to have an injury and the road would be open. Will it happen specifically in 2026? Probably not.
 

fed1

Professional
I love that when the talk about players improving especially in the case of Coco, it's so one sided, like she's the only one that can get better. What if Iga got better or is that not allowed??:rolleyes: The Coco people act like Iga is 30yrs old, she's going to be around for the majority of Coco's career.
 

fecund345

Semi-Pro
Coco is the better athlete. She is also very stubborn and Brad is a coward.

Possible solutions to her game: Hit your sevice targets on first and second serve, change that forehand grip to semi-western, look to come forward and stay forward once you do so(don't hit a shot from no mans land and retreat, keep the pressure on); fire Brad Gilbert.
 
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fecund345

Semi-Pro
I love that when the talk about players improving especially in the case of Coco, it's so one sided, like she's the only one that can get better. What if Iga got better or is that not allowed??:rolleyes: The Coco people act like Iga is 30yrs old, she's going to be around for the majority of Coco's career.
Iga is 23 and going strong
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
I love that when the talk about players improving especially in the case of Coco, it's so one sided, like she's the only one that can get better. What if Iga got better or is that not allowed??:rolleyes: The Coco people act like Iga is 30yrs old, she's going to be around for the majority of Coco's career.
Correct. Iga is not allowed to get better.
 

zvelf

Hall of Fame
It's hard to see Gauff ever reaching the #1 ranking. She'll have to put up a consistency not only greater than Swiatek's but also Sabalenka's. And if Rybakina can get whatever off-court and health issues behind her, Gauff will have to be better than her too. On top of all that, Andreeva is gradually coming into her own as a top contender.
 

Johnny505

Professional
Whatever level Guff gets up to, I can't unsee her mum's ghetto fist pumps at Wim 2019 in the players box.... cringe
 

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
It's hard to see Gauff ever reaching the #1 ranking. She'll have to put up a consistency not only greater than Swiatek's but also Sabalenka's. And if Rybakina can get whatever off-court and health issues behind her, Gauff will have to be better than her too. On top of all that, Andreeva is gradually coming into her own as a top contender.
Would Gauff reaching #1 be assimilable to Zverev reaching #1? (For totally different reasons).
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
Gauff is more likely to reach #1 than Zverev, and if she does manage to pull it off, it will be with a major already under her belt. The clock is still ticking on Zed.
Her odds to reach #1 by 2026 have already improved from 6% to 10% in the last hour, according to the thread poll.
 
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