Coco Gauff’s speed and defence have always made her dangerous on grass, and in 2026 she finally turned them into a deep Wimbledon run, reaching the semi-finals for the first time. She rose from 10th to 4th in the women’s GTC Grass Rankings with a GTC Grass Rating of 119, a rise of 7 points across the swing.
Grass at a glance
- GTC Grass Rating: 119, 4th in the women’s rankings (10th before the season)
- Pillars: Lawn Form 82, Arsenal 65, Wimbledon 68, Nerve 78
- Nationality: United States
- Best Wimbledon result: Semi-final (2026)
- Grass titles: None yet
- Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
How Coco plays on grass
Gauff covers the grass court better than almost anyone on the tour. She stretches points that other players would lose, and her two-handed backhand, especially down the line, holds up well on the low bounce. Her first serve is fast and gives her plenty of free points when it lands, which matters on a surface that rewards holding serve.
The weaknesses are the ones that have followed her for years. The second serve can be attacked, and the forehand, with its long swing, is harder to time when the ball skids through low. Her Arsenal score of 65 is the lowest of her pillars for those reasons, and she is more comfortable defending from the baseline than finishing at the net.
Her Nerve score of 78 reflects how she competes. At Wimbledon this year she came from a set down to win both her fourth-round and quarter-final matches, and she held a match point in the semi-final.
Grass record
Gauff first made her name on grass in 2019, when as a qualifier she beat Venus Williams on her Grand Slam main-draw debut and reached the fourth round before Simona Halep beat her. She reached the fourth round again in 2021, losing to Angelique Kerber, and in 2024, losing to Emma Navarro. Those fourth rounds were her best Wimbledon results before 2026.
The record had gaps too: first-round defeats to Sofia Kenin in 2023 and Dayana Yastremska in 2025, the latter coming weeks after she won the French Open. She has two major titles, the 2023 US Open and the 2025 French Open, but no grass title yet.
The 2026 grass season
Her only warm-up event was Berlin, where as the 5th seed she won the first set against Paula Badosa and then lost 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round. The rating moved only from 112 to 113.
At Wimbledon, seeded 7th, she beat Tamara Korpatsch, Solana Sierra and qualifier Claire Liu, the last two in three sets. She then beat 11th seed Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final and 4th seed Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first semi-final there. KarolÃna Muchová beat her 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(10) after Gauff missed a match point in the deciding tie-break, netting a forehand drop shot. The run lifted her rating from 113 to 119.
Looking ahead to 2027
Gauff now has a Wimbledon result that matches her standing at the other majors, and the question for 2027 is whether she can carry it into a fuller grass schedule, with Berlin or Bad Homburg ahead of Wimbledon. The Arsenal pillar is the area to improve: a more reliable second serve and a shorter forehand on low balls would make her harder to attack. A realistic target is a first grass title and a first Wimbledon final, which would put her in contention for the top 3.
