American teenage tennis sensation Coco Gauff has moved to 51 in the WTA rankings after her displays at the recently concluded Australian Open.
15-year-old Gauff, who played her maiden Australian Open recently, has jumped 16 spots up the rankings to be seated at 51st place.
Gauff impressed many at this year’s first Major Grand Slam event by knocking off defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round.
Gauff, however, could not continue her good form throughout the tournament as she lost to eventual champion and compatriot Sofia Kenin in the fourth round.
Despite the loss, Gauff, who had earlier impressed in the 2019 Wimbledon as a wild card entrant once again thrilled the crowd and sporting fans across the world by ousting more experienced and higher-ranked opponents in Australia.
One of them was her idol and legend of the game Venus Williams, whom the teenager beat in straight sets in the first round.
By advancing to 51st place in the rankings, Gauff is getting closer and closer towards the top-50 category and has now achieved her highest-ever rankings since turning professional in 2018.
The Florida native was No. 938 when she started but soon reached 686 by the end of 2018. She made a sudden leap in rankings, moving to 141 in the list after her heroics at last year’s Wimbledon, which included an upset of Venus Williams.
Gauff later moved to 106th in the rankings after progressing till the third-round at the US Open and was ranked 68th by the end of 2019.
“I guess I like U.S. Open [the most], but it’s hard to say because I’ve had such good matches at all of the Grand Slams,” Gauff said after her loss to Kenin.
“The Australian crowd is unbelievable, even Wimbledon is. Before going to Australia, the U.S. Open was always my favorite, but now it’s close.”