Coco Gauff enters Australian Open among favorites while playing 'confident tennis'

The last time most casual tennis fans saw Coco Gauff, her US Open title defense had ended in devastating fashion with a fourth-round loss to fellow American Emma Navarro, the same opponent who knocked her out at Wimbledon.

But what a difference four months makes.

After another change in her coaching team, some minor technical adjustments and a little bit of confidence, Gauff enters the Australian Open this week as one of if not the favorite to take home her second Grand Slam title.

It's been a fascinating journey for the 20-year-old Floridian. After a largely disappointing summer, including a medal-less trip to the Paris Olympics and several early-round losses, something clicked for Gauff last fall. She won the China Open, a prestigious WTA 1000 event, then backed it up by winning a record $4.8 million payday at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.

More importantly, she finished the season with wins over her two biggest rivals in that event, beating No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who had beaten Gauff in 11 of their previous 12 meetings.

It wasn’t a fluke.

At the United Cup a little more than a week ago to open the 2025 season, Gauff once again beat Swiatek, 6-4, 6-4, helping Team USA win the title and making a major statement that their previously one-sided rivalry had turned.

“Obviously this start of the season gives me a lot of confidence,” she told reporters. "I feel like when I’m playing confident tennis I'm playing great tennis.”

Everything about Gauff's game looks improved since separating from ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert as her primary coach and adding Matt Daly, a former Notre Dame player who is known as a grip specialist. It has led to Gauff deploying a steadier and more punishing forehand, while fixing some issues with the serve that gave her so much trouble last year.

Barring a pretty big upset in the early rounds, Gauff should be on for a semifinal showdown with Sabalenka, the two-time defending Australian Open champion.

Here are four more things to know about the first major of the tennis season, beginning Saturday evening in the U.S.:

Carlos Alcaraz goes for the career Slam

You have to be a pretty special talent to win two majors in a season and the Olympic silver medal but still come out of 2024 feeling like it was a slight disappointment. But that’s kind of where Alcaraz found himself last year as he battled some injuries, inconsistent stretches and lost significant ground in the rankings to No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

But after adding the Roland Garros title to his haul last spring, the 21-year-old Spaniard needs only an Australian title to complete the career Grand Slam. That’s something only eight men have done, and Alcaraz still has three more chances to displace Rafael Nadal (24 years, 102 days) as the youngest to pull it off.

Alcaraz has not had great success in Australia, but it's probably just a matter of time. The question for 2025 is whether he’ll show improved proficiency on a fast hard court, where his inability to get easy points with the serve has put him at a slight disadvantage in the past.

Novak Djokovic in the twilight

Djokovic had one major goal last year, and he checked it off the list by winning Olympic gold in an improbable and epic 7-6, 7-6 victory over Alcaraz. But other than that, Djokovic started to show more signs of his age (he’ll be 38 in May and needed surgery for a torn meniscus) and questionable motivation as he pared his schedule almost to the bare minimum.

The most interesting offseason development for Djokovic was hiring his old rival, the recently retired Andy Murray, to help coach him in Australia and perhaps beyond. But it's unclear what kind of form Djokovic carries into the major he’s won 10 times. At the warm-up event in Brisbane last week, he won two matches before losing 7-6, 6-3 to American Riley Opelka, who is ranked outside the top 200 after struggling with injuries for the past two years.

It would not be a surprise if this is Djokovic’s last year on tour, but you also can't completely count him out from the possibility of adding a 25th Slam title. Seeded No. 7, he'll probably have to do it the hard way here, with Alcaraz (quarterfinals), No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev (semifinals) and defending champion Sinner all in his potential path to the title.

Doping controversies on center stage

There’s a chance that Sinner, who is No. 1 by a mile after winning both hardcourt majors and eight titles overall in 2024, has to spend the meat of this season serving a suspension for a banned substance that became public right before the US Open last year.

The ITIA, tennis’ integrity agency, decided not to suspend Sinner after traces of the steroid clostebal showed up in a drug test at a tournament last spring. Essentially, the ITIA agreed with Sinner's explanation that the substance entered his system via his physical trainer, who had used a cream containing clostebal that is available over-the-counter in Italy to treat a wound on his hand before working on Sinner’s body. (There is photographic evidence, for what it’s worth, that the trainer had a bandage over his hand at the same tournament where the positive test occurred.)

But the World Anti-Doping Agency has challenged the ITIA’s decision and is seeking a one-year suspension, prompting a hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport that will take place in April. If Sinner is suspended even for 90 days, it could take him out of the heart of Grand Slam season.

Meanwhile, in November, the ITIA announced that Swiatek had tested positive for trimetazidine in August. Swiatek successfully argued that contamination in melatonin supplements was at fault, as she was able to present an unopened and partially opened package from the same batch that tested positive for the contaminants. She served a short provisional ban that forced her to withdraw from a couple of fall tournaments in Asia, but the reason for her absence wasn't revealed until the ITIA announcement.

At minimum, it’s not a great look for tennis to have two high profile players under a cloud of suspicion to begin the season. But legend John McEnroe, who will call the tournament for ESPN, told reporters that the positive tests had not been harmful because "tennis is cleaner than any other sport … but that doesn't mean there are not issues.”

New names to watch

Looking for some up-and-comers to track in Australia and throughout the 2025 season?

∎Start with Joao Fonseca, an 18-year-old from Brazil who will crack the top 100 soon and won the ATP’s “NextGen” event in December. He's a big-time talent who already has won a couple titles on the Challenger Tour and gets a tasty matchup to open the Australian Open against No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev.

∎Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, a 6-foot-8 Frenchman, might already have the scariest serve on tour at age 21. And it's not just his first serve – he regularly hits his second in the 120 mph range. He’s already bombed his way to a couple ATP titles and looks primed to make a dent in the Grand Slams soon.

∎American Nishesh Basavareddy, a 19-year-old from Newport Beach, California, who won the 2022 US Open juniors, made a bunch of Challenger finals late last year to break into the top 150. He’ll get the opportunity of a lifetime in the first round against Djokovic.

∎On the women's side, don't be surprised if Diana Shnaider ends up in a Slam final soon – or maybe even wins one. The 20-year-old Russian, who played one season at NC State, quietly took four WTA titles last season. More impressive, she won them on hard court, clay and grass. She’s up to No. 13 in the rankings and rising fast.

∎Iva Jovic, a 17-year-old American born to Serbian immigrants, won the Aussie and Wimbledon junior titles last year and beat seasoned pro Magda Linette in the US Open main draw. She could face No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina in the second round in Australia.

Follow Dan Wolken on social media @DanWolken

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Australian Open: Coco Gauff among five key storylines to watch