The Australian Open 2024 is nearing its last leg as one of the semi-finals of Women’s singles just got done. World No. 4 Coco Gauff lost to World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. The Sports Rush prediction came true as the indomitable Sabalenka knocked Gauff out of the competition. Nevertheless, the American player still fared very well at this year’s Majors.
Guaff may be behind in rankings to Sabalenka, but the 19-year-old is already ahead of her Belarusian opponent in their head-to-head count. Gauff has won 4 matches against her to date, whereas she just lost her 3rd match today. The American starlet fought in the first set, taking it to the tie-breakers before losing it 7-6 (7-2). She lost the next set 4-6 and was out of the competition.
Coco Gauff will still be leaving the Australian Open with $669,735. That is the prize money decided for every semi-finalist of the event, both men and women. That means Gauff and either Zheng Qinwen or Dayana Yastremska will get that amount. The finalist will get $1,166,963 and the winner will be $2,130,975 richer by the end of the tournament.
The other prize money is $405,900 for every quarter-finalist. Round 4, Round 3, Round 2, and Round 1 get $253,688, $172,508, $121,770, and $81,180, respectively.
Gauff has previously won the US Open and reached the finals of Roland Garros, but this is the farthest she reached the ‘Happy Slam’. At last year’s Australian Open, Gauff reached the fourth round before crashing out. She lost to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 7-5, 6-3. This time around, Gauff beat Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 7-6 (7-8), 6-7 (6-3), 6-2 in the quarter-finals.
This is a huge leap for Gauff, who is still a teenager and has a long way to go. In her short and studded career, Gauff has achieved many feats, not only in her professional life but in other aspects of her life. She struck a brand endorsement deal with New Balance at the age of 14, which remains today. The footwear brand even gave a makeover to their Melbourne outlet recently, as a means to show their pride and support for the American tennis star.
How will this affect Coco Gauff’s rankings?
Despite her loss to Sabalenka, Gauff has gone further than ever at this year’s Australian Open. But what does it mean for her at the WTA rankings? Her total points stand at 6660 currently, which was more back in September 2023, when she was World No. 3. Now she is World No. 4 and it would’ve likely stayed the same, despite her semi-final finish, but a great window opened up for her. She is now surely to reach rank 3.
Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina, who are World No. 1 and 3 respectively, have both crashed out of the Australian Open very early. Swiatek lost to Linda Noskova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the third round, whereas Rybakina lost to Anna Blinkova 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (20-22) in the second round of the tournament. This will cost them a major chunk of points. However, for Swiatek, her rankings will remain the same since she is too far ahead with 9880. She will lose 110 points and still be the number 1. Rybakina, though, will lose 1230 points and slip to fifth position, behind Gauff and Jessica Pegula.
Anna Sabalenka, who just booked her finals spot, will remain unchanged in her rankings even if she does win. This is because she is the defending champion and can only remain at 8905 points. Swiatek still stays above her by a considerable margin. But for Gauff, it has been an upward curve to regain her 3rd rank from last year.
