Take a look at Coco Gauff’s possibly very tough path to defending Cincinnati title

Coco Gauff has learned her possible path to defending her Cincinnati title as the American tennis star could have a few tricky matchups early on in the tournament.

Gauff, seeded at No. 2, has a first-round bye and she will probably start her campaign by taking on Yulia Putintseva in the second round. While the second-seeded American would enter that match as the big favorite, it should be noted that world No. 31 Putintseva upset Iga Swiatek earlier this summer at Wimbledon.

In the round-of-16, Gauff could face No. 13 seed Anna Kalinskaya or Paula Badosa, who won a WTA 500 tournament in Washington at the start of the North American hard-court swing.

If there are no major surprises, Cincinnati quarterfinal action could see Gauff taking on Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen. Then, the projected semifinal in the bottom half of the Cincinnati draw sees Gauff meeting fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina in a blockbuster clash. 

Should Gauff make back-to-back Cincinnati finals, she would likely meet there either No. 1 seed Swiatek or third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka. 12 months ago, the 20-year-old American famously beat Swiatek in the semifinal for her first win over the Pole in the eighth meeting. 

On paper, Gauff’s Cincinnati draw doesn’t look like an easy one but if the current world No. 2 replicates her form from last year’s tournament edition, there is no doubt that she will have a shot at repeating as the champion.

What Gauff said after becoming a WTA 1000 champion in Cincinnati last year?

When Gauff arrived in Cincinnati last year, she was a month removed from suffering one of the most disappointing losses of her career after losing in the Wimbledon first round. But then, Gauff went on to clinch the biggest title of her career after beating Mayar Sherif, Linda Noskova, Jasmine Paolini, Swiatek and Karolina Muchova for her maiden WTA 1000 title.

Later, Gauff acknowledged it was a special triumph and was asked to explain what was the hardest thing at the WTA 1000 level after lifting a trophy there. 

“Well, I think everybody’s trying hard in this level. I mean, the Grand Slams are obviously where the people try the hardest. But obviously in this level is the next. Like the schedule, playing back-to-back tough matches is tougher sometimes than in a Grand Slam in many moments because you don’t have that day between. Karolina kind of said it in her thing. She woke up and she was like ‘ouch’. I’m a little younger. I was feeling the impact yesterday. Yeah, I think maybe because I’m younger, it was a little bit less,” Gauff said.

“But, yeah, that was the toughest thing mentally is coming from that high, beating Iga yesterday, and getting ready for another match… This week, draw-wise, I did play a lot of players ranked lower than me. I think that was a bit of pressure because you know you have to win these matches, or you should be on paper. Obviously it’s not that simple when you’re going into the match. I feel like when you are ranked higher, they try harder against you because everybody wants that big win. I don’t blame. I did the same, too.”

What Gauff had to say about the city of Cincinnati and their people?

For Gauff – who was 19 at the time – it was her third time playing in Cincinnati. And since there were rumors at the time about Cincinnati potentially losing its Masters and WTA 1000 tournament, the reporters wanted to know from the top-ranked American female tennis player how she felt about the city, tournament, and the people there. 

“I think really the people. The people here are really nice. Obviously the first person I met from Ohio is Caty McNally. She’s a native. She’s the one who taught me about the Skyline Chili, all of the things. Her brother went to Ohio State. I’m like learning things. She was showing me around. I asked her for some nail places here. I got my nails done,” Gauff explained.

“I just really feel like this is the week before a Grand Slam where you don’t want to be somewhere crazy. I got to chill. I think the people just make it outstanding. The locker room staff, they’ve been so helpful and nice. The food. The cooks here… It’s just like little interactions like that make it worth it as a player. I truly think people see you as a person more here. I think people see me on TV, they just see me on court. Here, they never ask for photos or anything. They really just care. I think that’s what it means for me staying in Cincinnati.”