Coco Gauff takes a 50-win season - and new coach - into third WTA Finals appearance: "I'm really honoured to make it"

As Coco Gauff arrived to the US Open's media day in late August, the 2023 champion wore a stylish jean jacket with a quote emblazoned on the back of it.

"Thank you to the people who didn't believe in me," it read in large, bejeweled letters.

It was a quote by Gauff from her winner's speech on the very same Arthur Ashe Stadium court she stood on a year earlier, one that earned a roar from the crowd and then went viral online.

Gauff, now 20, has had plenty of doubters in her career, and in 2024 faced a new kind of pressure as a major tennis champion for the first time. While she didn't add to her Grand Slam tally in singles, she's had a consistent and strong season, making the second week of all four majors, and bookended with titles in Auckland (in January) and - just a few weeks ago - in Beijing, leading up to the 2024 WTA Tour Finals Riyadh.

"This is my third year in a row; I'm pretty proud of that," Gauff told reporters in Beijing of her Finals qualification. "It's hard each year to make it. Especially with the depth of the women's game now, I think it's even harder. I'm really honoured to make it."

It's also been a season of off-court changes for Gauff, too, with her and coach Brad Gilbert splitting ways after the US Open. She's brought on a new coach in Matt Daly, who is advising Gauff in tandem with Jean-Christophe Faurel.

Faurel is a longtime coach for Gauff, and re-joined her team in mid-April when she was still with Gilbert.

"Right now I'm very young," Gauff said, also in Beijing. "So I'm looking for [a coach] to help me develop in the long-term process and try to help make my game as complete as I can be."

• Previewing the WTA Finals: What to watch, how to tune in
• WTA Finals Riyadh: Schedule, scores, results

Coco Gauff: From Olympic flagbearer to major doubles champ

While Gauff came closest to Slam No.2 at the Australian and French Opens with respective runs to the semi-finals, she's tallied 50 wins on the singles court, highlighted by those title wins in Auckland and Beijing. She also claimed her first major doubles title in Paris, winning alongside Czech Katerina Siniakova.

Her defeats in Melbourne and Paris, respectively, came to eventual champions and the only two women ranked above her on the WTA: Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

She's been open about what she sees as a longterm process, as mentioned above, wanting to see the big picture of how she can improve her tennis for the future, not just the now.

When Dominic Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion, retired in October, he shared that being a major champion wasn't the life-changing moment many chalk it up to be. "This couldn't be more relatable," Gauff wrote on her Instagram, sharing the Thiem post.

She's continued to make her mark as a cultural icon, most notably being voted on - by her Team USA peers - as co-flagbearer alongside basketball superstar LeBron James at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

"No words, truly," Gauff said about her duties on the Seine River.

She also graced the cover of TIME magazine, being named one of its women of the year and feted at a gala in Los Angeles.

After declaring hopes for multiple gold medals at Paris, Gauff would fall short at the Games, however: She lost in the third round of singles to eventual silver medallist Donna Vekic, while losing in the second round of doubles and quarter-finals in mixed.

Coco Gauff's memorable 2024

Here are some of the standout numbers (and moments) of Coco Gauff's 2024 season:

• 50 match wins in singles (50-16)

• Two singles titles: Auckland; Beijing

• One doubles title: Roland Garros (with Siniakova)

• One re-hired coach: Jean-Christophe Faurel

• One new coach: Matt Daly

• 16-4 at the Grand Slams

• Olympic flagbearer at her Olympic debut

• 2-0 in singles final (8-1 career)