Despite not winning a title so far this season, Coco Gauff has enjoyed several deep runs at major tournaments in 2026.
The American has been in two Masters finals, in Rome and Miami, and she’s reached the quarter finals or later at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
She performed well at the Canadian Open too, as she got her North American hardcourt swing underway by reaching the semi finals of the Masters event, before losing to Elena Rybakina.
The star’s form in 2026 has helped her climb to number four in the WTA Tour rankings, but the American still has a big goal she hasn’t achieved so far this year.
Speaking at her Cincinnati Open press conference, Gauff outlined her desire to win a trophy before the 2026 WTA Tour season concludes.
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“I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to where I want to end up as a player,” said Gauff ahead of her first match in Cincinnati against Liudmila Samsonova.
“Obviously, like you said, in Wimbledon and in Toronto, I had some good results and, you know, I think just trying to compete to be able to finish with a trophy in my hand is something that I am hoping to get before the season’s over.
“I’ve gotten a lot of semis, a couple finals, a lot of quarterfinals, so just trying to get to that final step.”
Gauff arrives at the Cincinnati Open having tasted victory at the Masters event previously, so she will be hopeful she can end her trophy drought at the WTA 1000 tournament.
In 2023, Gauff defeated the likes of Linda Noskova, Jasmine Paolini, Iga Swiatek, and Karolina Muchova to win the tournament for the first – and only – time in her career.
Outside of her maiden victory in Ohio, Gauff actually has a pretty miserable record at the Masters event.
She has been knocked out of the first round on two occasions, and been dumped out of the second round the same number of times.
At last year’s event, she reached the quarter finals of the tournament, but she was defeated by eventual finalist Paolini in three sets.
In six appearance at the Masters tournament, Gauff has won nine matches and lost five. That equates to a 64% winning rate for the American, which averages out at her third worst performing Masters record out of the nine tournaments across the year.
The two-time Grand Slam champion will be hoping to change that this year as she looks for her very first WTA Tour title of the year at the 14th time of asking in 2026.
