Coco Gauff practices with Stefan Kozlov
Coco Gauff is preparing for the 2024 WTA season, and she recently had a practice session with fellow American Stefan Kozlov.
Gauff had the most successful year of her young career in 2023, picking up titles at every level of the WTA Tour. She began the season by winning the WTA 250 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. The American No. 1’s next titles came during the North American swing, which she dominated.
Gauff won the WTA 500 Citi Open in Washington DC, the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, and then her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open. She ended the year with a semifinal appearance at the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico.
Gauff took some well-deserved time off after her WTA Finals campaign, but is now back on the court ahead of the upcoming season. She recently had a hitting session with fellow American and ATP World No. 778 Stefan Kozlov in South Florida.
Coco Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert shared a picture of the two players after their session on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption:
“Great practice again with Koz @stefankozlov morning grind.”
Stefan Kozlov has been on the ATP Tour for a while now. The 25-year-old rose to his highest ranking of World No. 103 in July 2022. He reached the second round at the 2022 Australian Open, his best performance at the Grand Slam level so far.
Coco Gauff to begin 2024 with title defense at ASB Classic
Coco Gauff will kickstart her 2024 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, where she is the defending champion. The 19-year-old was the top seed last year at the tournament and did not drop a set en route to her third WTA Tour-level title.
Gauff began her campaign at Auckland in 2022 with a win against German veteran Tatjana Maria. She then bettered former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, Zhu Lin, No. 7 seed Danka Kovinic and Rebeka Masarova to lift the trophy.
The American is again the top seed at the 2024 ASB Classic, and will be joined by nine players within the top 50 of the WTA rankings. This includes the likes of Elina Svitolina, Lesia Tsurenko and Marie Bouzkova.
Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki, Emma Raducanu and Amanda Anisimova have received wildcards to compete in the main draw. The tournament will be played from December 31 to January 7.
