Coco Gauff Arrives at the US Open Ranked Fourth and Still Without a Title in 2026

FLUSHING, N.Y., Aug. 5, 2026 — Coco Gauff will enter the 2026 US Open, whose main draw runs Aug. 30 through Sept. 13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, ranked No. 4 in the world and chasing something more elementary than a third Grand Slam title: a trophy of any kind this year.

Gauff, 22, is the highest-ranked woman on tour without a title in 2026. She has reached two finals, both at WTA 1000 level, and lost both. In Miami, Aryna Sabalenka beat her 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. In Rome, Elina Svitolina took the final 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2 after Gauff converted only three of 17 break points — a waste of chances Gauff afterward put down to nerves on the big points rather than to anything structural in her game.

The rest of her season has swung between the disappointing and the unprecedented. She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, losing to Svitolina 6-1, 6-2, and the semifinals in Dubai, where Svitolina beat her again in three sets. She then lost in the third round of the French Open to Anastasia Potapova, 6-4, 6-7(1), 4-6, surrendering the title she had won a year earlier. Four weeks later she produced the best fortnight of her career on the surface that has always resisted her.

Seeded seventh at Wimbledon, Gauff reached the semifinals for the first time. She had not won a grass-court match in two years before those Championships and had never been past the fourth round in London. The run also made her the youngest woman since Maria Sharapova in 2007 to reach the last four at all four majors.

The semifinal itself was the match of the tournament. Karolina Muchova, the No. 10 seed, beat her 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(12-10) in two hours and 35 minutes on Centre Court. Gauff held a match point at 9-8 in the deciding tiebreak and netted a forehand drop shot. Muchova, who had lost her first six meetings with Gauff, had now beaten her twice this season. She went on to lose to Linda Noskova in the first all-Czech Grand Slam singles final of the professional era; Noskova, at 21, became the youngest Wimbledon champion since Petra Kvitova in 2011.

Gauff's major record remains the strongest argument for her at Flushing Meadows. She won here in 2023, beating Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 for her first Grand Slam, and won the 2025 French Open, beating Sabalenka again, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4. She has 11 career singles titles, reached a career-high ranking of No. 2 in June 2024, and won the WTA Finals that year. Her most recent title came in Wuhan last October.

The shot that decides how high the ceiling goes is the same one it has always been. Gauff hired biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan on the eve of the 2025 US Open, midway through a season in which she hit 431 double faults — the most on tour, and the second consecutive year she led that list. The timing drew criticism; she lost in the fourth round in New York weeks later.

A year on, the evidence is mixed. Gauff opened 2026 still leading the tour in double faults, with 103 in her first four events, including 28 across two matches in Dubai in February. But the grass-court fortnight was built partly on the serve she has spent a year rebuilding: she said during Wimbledon that she had faith in it, and after the semifinal loss argued that the progress made over the two weeks was undeniable, whatever the result.

The top of the draw is deeper than it was in 2023. Sabalenka has held the No. 1 ranking since October 2024, is past 100 weeks at the top in total, and has won three titles this year, including the Indian Wells–Miami double. Elena Rybakina is second, having won the Australian Open in January by beating Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 — and becoming only the fourth woman since the WTA rankings began to defeat both the world No. 1 and the world No. 2 en route to the Melbourne title. Jessica Pegula climbed to No. 3 after the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Mirra Andreeva won Roland-Garros. Iga Swiatek, the defending Wimbledon champion, lost in the third round there to Alexandra Eala.

Against that group Gauff has recent evidence. She beat Swiatek 6-4, 6-2 at the United Cup in January, a fourth consecutive win and a fourth consecutive straight-sets one, against an opponent who won 11 of their first 12 meetings and still leads 11-5 overall. Sabalenka is the more direct obstacle: Gauff has beaten her in two major finals and lost to her in Miami this spring.

The main draw has not been made. Seedings will follow the rankings issued Aug. 24, with the draw to be conducted Aug. 27; on her current ranking, Gauff would be seeded fourth.

What is settled is the venue. Gauff, who lives in Delray Beach, Fla., won her first major on these courts at 19. Whether the atmosphere is worth a title is not something the statistics can answer. Whether she serves well enough inside it is a question the next two weeks will settle.