{"id":1845703,"date":"2026-03-25T07:45:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T04:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1845703"},"modified":"2026-03-25T07:45:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T04:45:40","slug":"miami-open-coco-gauff-closes-in-on-iga-swiatek-in-wta-rankings-as-she-surprises-herself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1845703","title":{"rendered":"Miami Open: Coco Gauff closes in on Iga Swiatek in WTA Rankings as she surprises herself"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Miami Open: Coco Gauff closes in on Iga Swiatek in WTA Rankings as she surprises herself<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/shahidaj\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Shahida Jacobs                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"25 Mar 2026 7:45 AM\" data-ps-date=\"25 Mar 2026 7:45 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1774424740\"><br \/>\n                            25 Mar 2026 7:45 AM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Miami Open: Coco Gauff closes in on Iga Swiatek in WTA Rankings as she surprises herself\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Coco-Gauff-celebrates-after-her-match-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Coco Gauff celebrates after her match\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Coco Gauff celebrates after her match                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Coco Gauff was advised to skip the Miami Open due to injury, but her decision to veto her team has paid off as she has reached the semi-final of the WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career and is now on the verge of returning to No 3 in the rankings.<\/p>\n<p>The reigning French Open champion sustained an arm injury during the Indian Wells Open and was forced to retire midway through her third-round match against Alex Eala.<\/p>\n<p>Although an MRI scan cleared her of any serious injury, she revealed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/coco-gauff-reveals-team-not-want-compete-miami-open\">\u201cmost of my team didn\u2019t even want me to play this tournament, but I just kind of vetoed that\u201d<\/a> as it is the Florida-born Gauff\u2019s home event.<\/p>\n<p>And now she finds herself in the last four after coming through another tough encounter as she beat 12th seed Belinda Bencic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. The American also needed two sets to see off Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Alycia Parks and Sorana Cirstea.<\/p>\n<h2>Miami Open News<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/miami-open-aryna-sabalenka-brave-change-powering-sunshine-double-mission\">Aryna Sabalenka reveals \u2018brave\u2019 change powering her Sunshine Double mission<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/mirra-andreeva-accused-making-mistakes-on-purpose-former-world-no-1\">Mirra Andreeva accused of \u2018making mistakes on purpose\u2019 by former world No 1<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI honestly didn\u2019t think I would be in the semis so I\u2019m really happy and proud of myself,\u201d the fourth-seeded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/coco-gauff\">Gauff<\/a> \u2013 who had failed to make it past the fourth round of the Miami Open before this year \u2013 said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I proved a lot to myself this week, and I feel like with each match, I\u2019m getting better. Even though I\u2019m still playing three sets, I feel like the level is getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Possible Rankings Boost<\/h2>\n<p>Gauff started the tournament at No 4 in the WTA Rankings behind Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/wta-rankings-how-coco-gauff-can-overtake-iga-swiatek-after-shock-defeat\">the latter\u2019s shock second-round defeat<\/a> has opened the way for a possible return to No 3.<\/p>\n<p>The American dropped 120 points at the start of the tournament after losing in the fourth round last year, but she is now guaranteed to earn 390 points for reaching the semi-final, which puts her on 7,018 in the Live Rankings.<\/p>\n<p>With Swiatek on 7,263 and unable to add to her total, Gauff will move ahead of the Pole if she wins her last-four match against Karolina Muchova \u2013 who beat Victoria Mboko in straight sets \u2013 as she will be on 7,278 points.<\/p>\n<p>The American has a 5-0 head-to-head record against the 13th-seeded Czech, but she knows the past counts for nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t think about the head-to-head,\u201d the two-time Grand Slam winner said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s so many matches that we play that could go either way. I don\u2019t really think about it \u2013 especially when I play here, because I know how good she is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Miami Open: Coco Gauff closes in on Iga Swiatek in WTA Rankings as she surprises herself Shahida Jacobs 25 Mar 2026 7:45 AM Coco Gauff celebrates after her match Coco Gauff was advised to skip the Miami Open due to injury, but her decision to veto her team has paid off as she has reached [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1845703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1845703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1845703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1845703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1845703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1845703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1845703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}