Coco Gauff: Justine Henin says tennis star is showing signs of ‘very big future’ after ‘exceptional’ end to season
Published 13/11/2024 at 12:53 GMT
Coco Gauff ended her season in impressive fashion by winning the WTA Finals. The 20-year-old looked out of form in the summer but bounced back with 13 wins from 15 matches to finish the season. Former world No. 1 Justine Henin says Gauff has shown she has a "very big future" in the sport and was impressed with the way she played at the WTA Finals and handled criticism.
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Justine Henin believes Coco Gauff has demonstrated a “resilience that will take her very far” after capping off a resurgent finish to the season with victory at the WTA Finals.
Gauff, 20, suffered a dip in form in the summer as she won just one match across Toronto and Cincinnati and then saw her US Open title defence end in the last 16.
But she bounced back in impressive style with 13 wins from 15 matches to finish the year.
At the WTA Finals she beat both world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek before toppling Qinwen Zheng in the final.
“She has a resilience that potentially will take her very far in terms of what she will win in her career,” former world No. 1 Henin told Eurosport about Gauff.
“She has the capacity to bounce back, and that’s the sign of a potentially very big future. Of course, there is a path to get there and reach these successes. Her end of season has been really exceptional, the way that she went after the win in that final [against Zheng Qinwen].
“It’s great to watch matches of that quality. We’ve seen a lot of them this year and we’re seeing some rivalries begin to establish themselves at the top of the game.
“Coco Gauff showed once again a lot of heart, she plays with her weaknesses, with her flaws, but she never gives up and that’s what she showed once more in that final.”
Gauff’s victory over Zheng saw her become the youngest player to win the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2004.
She has said criticism of her summer form made her even more determined not to "let anybody write me off".
Henin added: “That’s also part of the game, the critics. She had some results that were less good, there is then analysis of that. She had a very difficult summer.
“Last year she had a summer that was completely different. We’ve seen things that have evolved in her game in a difficult way, but I was nonetheless quite impressed by the level of her game [in Riyadh].
“Even if we can analyse her career and her results, we must also not forget that she is still very young and we are very demanding with her. She is very demanding of herself.”
Gauff is not competing for the USA at this week’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain.
Jessica Pegula is also absent, meaning Danielle Collins will be the top-ranked singles player in the team.
USA play Slovakia on Thursday, November 14.
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