Is Coco Gauff set for bold career move after French Open triumph?

Coco Gauff’s French Open singles campaign may have ended at the hands of Iga Swiatek, but she hasn’t left Paris empty-handed.

Teaming up with doubles great Katerina Siniakova, the US star has captured her first doubles Slam title at Roland Garros , the pair beating Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 7-6(5), 6-3 in Sunday’s final.

With regular partner Jessica Pegula out of the French Open due to injury, it is fair to say that in Siniakova, Gauff found the best replacement possible.

But having now avenged final losses at the 2021 US Open and 2022 French Open doubles finals, is the American about to make a huge career move – and drop playing doubles altogether?

New priorities?

Competing across singles and doubles used to be commonplace, but the physical demands of the modern game make doing this difficult for anyone towards the top of the singles game.

For Gauff, who has been a consistent WTA top-10 star for almost two years now, it is understandable why she may focus solely on this discipline.

Speaking in press after her semi-final singles loss, she eluded to her upcoming doubles semi-final – which she and Siniakova won – and implied that winning the title could be a turning point.

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She said: “I have doubles tomorrow, and I have a great partner. I feel like we have a good shot to win.

“I really want to win a doubles Slam so just – I don’t want to say close that chapter of my career – but’s something I feel like once I do it, I don’t know if I’ll continue to chase more. I’m not saying I won’t play doubles.”

Though she did not conclusively rule out playing doubles after what was then a hypothetical victory, there is a suggestion that her priorities may be shifting.

Having now claimed the doubles Slam that had eluded her, adding that to reigning as doubles world No 1 for a spell in 2023, Gauff may feel she has ticked every box.

Gauff will be singles world No 2 on Monday and as she eyes up the defence of her US Open title later this summer, it is understandable that her priorities could switch.

In some ways, the success of one of her key rivals may provide a blueprint for her.

Aryna Sabalenka was a doubles world No 1 and a US and Australian Open winner alongside Elise Mertens, before dropping the discipline to focus on her singles career.

Her singles career has transformed since then, winning two Australian Open titles, reaching seven straight Grand Slam quarter-finals, and rising to world No 1 in singles last year.

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Olympic campaign?

Any decision will probably be with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in mind.

With Pegula set to return to action this grass season, the pair will likely renew their partnership and, should they compete, they would be among the leading gold medal contenders in the discipline.

Olympic doubles is always difficult to predict – as you never know which singles players may enter to challenge the elite doubles players – but they would have to be in the conversation.

Potentially, they could go all out for Paris gold and maybe the US Open after that, before Gauff goes fully into her singles career.