Coco Gauff became America’s next women’s tennis star last year, but she hasn’t played like it lately. That hasn’t stopped her from becoming a merchandising fireball.
On Tuesday, it was announced Gauff would be the next athlete to appear on boxes of Wheaties, and she also has her first signature shoe, the Coco CG2.
Gauff, who won the U.S. Open last year at just 19 years old and became the first American teenager to win the U.S. Open since Serena Williams in 1999, will attempt to defend her title Aug. 26.
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Coco Gauff of the U.S. trains ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Roland Garros July 24, 2024, in Paris. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Gauff was reportedly the highest-paid female athlete in 2023 with $23 million in total earnings, which included $17 million in endorsements, according to Sportico.
Despite her new merchandising momentum, she isn’t going into the event in a strong position. In the most recent WTA player rankings, Gauff dropped from No. 2 to No. 3, below Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Belarusian veteran Aryna Sabalenka, who Gauff beat in the final of last year’s U.S. Open.
At Wimbledon in early July, Gauff lost in the women’s singles round of 16 to Emma Navarro and then in the doubles quarterfinal. She then lost at the Paris Olympics in the third round of women’s singles, the second round of women’s doubles and the quarterfinals of mixed doubles.
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American tennis player Coco Gauff speaks with an official after a call goes against her while playing Croatia’s Donna Vekic during their singles third-round tennis match on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros Stadium during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris July 30, 2024. (Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)
Then things started to get shocking at the Canadian Open Aug. 9. As the top seed, she lost in the round of 16 to lesser-known opponent and 14th-seeded Diana Shnaider.
Gauff’s most recent appearance at the Cincinnati Masters may have been her worst one yet, when she lost her very first match in the round of 32 to Yulia Antonovna Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Gauff’s struggles even prompted Tennis Channel host Monica Puig to urge the 20-year-old budding star to consider a “mental reset.”
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“I would love to see her make a mental reset,” Puig said during TC Live on Monday. “We know the type of tennis she is capable of playing. She needs to focus on serving well, playing the aggressive game style. But, maybe put the U.S. Open and what happened last year behind and start fresh and just build from there.”
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