Coco Vandeweghe

Early life

Vandeweghe was born in New York City to 1991 Olympic swimmer Tauna Vandeweghe and her then husband Robert Mullarkey. Coco's maternal grandparents are 1952 Miss America Colleen Kay Hutchins and former New York Knicks basketball player Ernie Vandeweghe. Her uncle, her mother's brother, is basketball player Kiki Vandeweghe and her grandmother's brother was NBA player Mel Hutchins. CoCo first started playing tennis with her elder brother, Beau, at the age of eleven. It was the last sport she played in her early life before turning pro in April 2008. Self-described as a "total California girl", Vandeweghe spends most of her off-season at the beach with her family. She is good friends with fellow American players Madison Keys, Irina Falconi and Shelby Rogers.

Playing style

Vandeweghe is known to have one of the strongest serves on the tour. In 2014, she hit 306 aces, third highest on the tour. She plays very aggressively, and likes to take the ball early and on the rise on both sides. Her groundstrokes are heavy and are delivered flat and powerful. Vandeweghe is efficient at the net and enjoys moving forward to avoid extended rallies. Because of her consistent serve, she has a solid mental game. Overall fitness and movement are cited as her weaknesses. Vandeweghe's favorite shot is her forehand down the line, and her preferred surfaces are hard and grass courts. She is currently coached by Pat Cash. Previously she was coached by Robert Van't Hof in Newport Beach, CA.

Junior

She received a wildcard into the 2008 US Open girls' singles. She defeated 13th seed Elena Chernyakova in the first round. She defeated fellow wildcard Kristie Ahn in the second round and Katarzyna Piter in the third round. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Belgian Tamaryn Hendler. She defeated 12th seed Kristina Mladenovic in the semifinals and went on to win the final against Gabriela Paz Franco. She won the tournament without dropping a set.

Career

Vandeweghe debuted at the 2006 Acura Classic, having received a wild card

2006–2009

Vandeweghe played her WTA debut at the 2006 Acura Classic. She lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko. The following year, she played there as a wildcard, where she lost to Elena Bovina again in the first round.

In 2008, she lost to Sabine Lisicki in the first round in Miami and to Marta Domachowska in Los Angeles. At the US Open, where she had won the girls' singles title, she received a wildcard for the women's singles main draw. She lost to Jelena Janković in the first round.

In 2009, Vandeweghe obtained an invitation from the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play the JB Group Classic with her compatriot Venus Williams and Argentine Gisela Dulko in January, and then she was granted a wildcard to the Sony Ericsson Open. She lost to Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round. In her second WTA tournament of the year in Los Angeles, she recorded her first WTA-level win. She defeated Tathiana Garbin before losing to Flavia Pennetta. Vandeweghe gained a wildcard for qualifying at the US Open. She lost in the first round of qualifying.

2010

In 2010, Vandeweghe received a wildcard to the Australian Open, but she lost to Sandra Záhlavová in the first round. In the following months, Vandeweghe won two ITF tournaments in a row. She then cracked into the top 200 on the WTA list.

She qualified for the Mercury Insurance Open, beating Gisela Dulko. She went on to defeat Vera Zvonareva for her first top-10 victory. Despite high expectations at the US Open, Vandeweghe was defeated by Sabine Lisicki in the first round. Ranked No. 172 in the world, Vandeweghe travelled to Japan to compete at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She qualified by defeating Tathiana Garbin and Jarmila Groth. In the first round of the main draw, she defeated world No. 37 Klára Zakopalová and went on to make the quarterfinals, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka.

2011

Vandeweghe began 2011 at the Brisbane International, where was defeated in the first round of qualifying. Next up was the Medibank International Sydney, where she was again defeated in the first round of qualifying. Vandeweghe came through the qualifying rounds at the Australian Open; however, she was defeated in the first round of the main draw by Alizé Cornet. She reached the quarterfinals at the Memphis Tennis Championships, which resulted in her breaking into the WTA top 100 for the first time in her career. Vandeweghe reached the second round in both Indian Wells (as a wildcard), and the US Open.

2012

Vandeweghe made it to the first WTA-level semifinal of her career in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford after posting a win over Poland's Urszula Radwańska. In the semifinal, she defeated fifth-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer to book a place in her first WTA final against top-seeded Serena Williams, where she lost in straight sets.

2013

Vandeweghe posted a win against Marion Bartoli in the first round at the Monterrey Open and later reached the second rounds at Stanford, Carlsbad and the US Open after qualifying for each.

2014: First WTA title

Vandeweghe commenced her 2014 season at the ASB Classic, where she was the top seed in the qualifying rounds. She beat Valeria Solovyeva and Irena Pavlovic in straight sets before losing to Kristýna Plíšková in three sets. Her next tournament was the Australian Open where she was seeded second in qualifying, but lost to Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets. Given a wildcard into the BNP Paribas Open, Vandeweghe earned her first WTA singles win of the year, beating Alexandra Cadanțu 6-4, 6-0 before losing to 8th seed Petra Kvitová 1-6, 3-6. Her next event was in Miami, where she qualified for the main-draw with two set wins over Alison Van Uytvanck and Sharon Fichman. In the main-draw she beat Marina Erakovic, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, [Samantha Stosur]] before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams in the fourth round. With a strong showing in Miami, she reached a career high ranking of No. 82. Next she participated at the Monterrey Open before losing to Caroline Wozniacki in two close sets. At the French Open, Vandeweghe won her first round match for the first time in Paris, beating Iveta Benešová in straight sets, before losing to Ekaterina Makarova in the second round.

Vandeweghe had a very impressive grass court season. At the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, she beat Zarina Diyas and Yanina Wickmayer before losing to Klára Koukalová in three very close sets, despite serving 18 aces. At the Topshelf Open, Vandeweghe won her first WTA singles title. Seeded second in qualifying, she beat Nicole Melichar and Kristina Mladenovic. In the main-draw, she beat Marina Erakovic, Vania King, Garbiñe Muguruza, Klára Koukalová in the semifinals and Zheng Jie in the final 6-2, 6-4. During that impressive week, she hit a total of 81 aces and rose to a career high ranking of No. 51. In Wimbledon a few days later, she beat Muguruza again in three sets, extending her winning streak to eight matches won. She lost to Tereza Smitková in the second round.

Her next event was the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, where she made the final in 2012 as a lucky loser. She made the second round with a comfortable win against fellow American Kristie Ahn before losing to third seed Angelique Kerber. Vandeweghe went on to reach her first quarterfinal at a premier 5 event at the Rogers Cup. She easily qualified for the main-draw, dropping just 5 games in the qualifying rounds. In the first round, she beat Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 6-2. She drew Ana Ivanovic in the second round, where she won 6-7(9), 7-6(9), 6-4. She then went on to beat Jelena Janković in three sets in the third round, before losing to Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals in three sets. After Montréal, her ranking rose to No. 38 and entered the top 40 for the first time in her career. She traveled to New Haven in Connecticut to play at Connecticut Open but lost in straight sets to Camila Giorgi. At the US Open she made the second round for the third time. She beat Donna Vekić 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 but lost in straight sets to Carla Suárez Navarro.

After the US Open, Vandeweghe's next tournament was Toray Pan Pacific Open. She beat Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round before losing to Dominika Cibulková in two close sets. She made the second round of Wuhan, first round of Beijing and second round of Osaka to end her best season to date. She ended 2014 ranked no. 39.

2015: Steady ranking

Vandeweghe achieved her best Grand Slam result at Australian Open, where she made the third round for the first time after victories over Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur, falling to Madison Brengle.

In 2015, just three days before the French Open, Vandeweghe and coach Maciej Synowka parted ways, having worked with each other for over a year. Vandeweghe is now coached by Craig Kardon, who has previously worked with star players like Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, and Ana Ivanovic.

She upgraded her best Grand Slam result at Wimbledon, where she made the quarterfinals after victories over Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, eleventh seeded Karolína Plíšková, 22nd seeded Samantha Stosur, and sixth seeded Lucie Šafářová before falling in three sets to fourth seeded Maria Sharapova.

She made her first Grand Slam semifinals in doubles with Anna-Lena Grönefeld at the US Open.

2016: First WTA doubles title and second WTA singles title

Vandeweghe got off to a rough start in 2016. She commenced her season at the ASB Classic where she was the seventh seed but lost to her compatriot and good friend Irina Falconi in the first round 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, despite being up a break in the final set. An alternate for Sydney, Vandeweghe lost in the first round to Jelena Jankovic 3-6, 4-6. She then travelled to Melbourne to compete at the 2016 Australian Open, where she drew her countrywoman Madison Brengle in the first round, again losing 3-6, 4-6. However, Vandeweghe enjoyed some success in women's doubles, where she and her partner, Anna-Lena Grönefeld, reached the quarterfinals and losing to world number ones Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis in three sets. Vandeweghe teamed up with Romania's Horia Tecău in the mixed doubles event where they made the final, falling just short to Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares.

After the Australian Open, Vandeweghe participated at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where she scored her first win of 2016, knocking out the 6th seed Karolína Plíšková. She went on to reach the quarterfinals of Dubai, with another strong win over Kristina Mladenovic, before losing to Elina Svitolina in three sets. At the Qatar Total Open, Vandeweghe made it to the third round, with straight set wins over Kirsten Flipkens and Belinda Bencic, obtaining her first top ten victory of 2016.

In March, Vandeweghe made the third round at Indian Wells, beating Kiki Bertens and Svetlana Kuznetsova before losing to Jelena Jankovic for the second time in 2016. In doubles, Vandeweghe teamed up with fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, where they unprecedentedly claimed the doubles title. En route to the title, they beat Dabrowski/Martínez Sánchez, the 2nd seeds Chan/Chan, the 8th seeds Spears/Atawo, the third seeds Babos/Shvedova in the semifinals, and Görges/Plíšková in the final. It was Vandeweghe's first doubles title. After Indian Wells, Vandeweghe participated at the Miami Open, where she also reached the third round after defeating Samantha Crawford and world No. 6 Carla Suárez Navarro before losing to Monica Niculescu in straight sets.

Vandeweghe travelled to Brisbane, where she represented USA at Fed Cup. Her decisive win over Samantha Stosur meant that USA will return to World Group stages in 2017. After Fed Cup, Vandeweghe lost in the first rounds of Madrid and Rome. At the French Open, she won her first clay court match of the season, beating Naomi Broady in three sets. In her round two match, she faced Irina-Camelia Begu where she lost in 3 hours and 37 minutes despite serving for the match. In mixed doubles, Vandeweghe paired up with Bob Bryan. They reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to French duo Kristina Mladenovic and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Vandeweghe found form in the grass court season. She won her second WTA title at the Ricoh Open. She beat Indy de Vroome, Nao Hibino, Evgeniya Rodina, Madison Brengle and finally Kristina Mladenovic, 7-5, 7-5, to win the title. It was her second title overall, and second title at Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, having won the tournament in 2014.

She then played at the Aegon Classic, where she beat world No. 3 and top seed Agnieszka Radwańska, Christina McHale and Yanina Wickmayer, before losing to Barbora Strýcová and thus ending her eight match winning streak. After this tournament, her ranking rose to a career high of No. 30. At the Wimbledon Championships, Vandeweghe was seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time as the 27th seed. She made the second week for the second straight year. She beat Bondarenko, Babos and sixth seeded Vinci before losing to eventual quarterfinalist and 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the 4th round. Her win over Vinci was her 4th top 10 victory in 2016.

Vandeweghe struggled for the remainder of the 2016 season, registering just two more wins; over Nicole Gibbs in Stanford at the Bank of the West Classic, where she was the 4th seed, and over Sara Errani in Cincinnati.

2017: First two Slam semifinals and Top 20 Breakthrough

At the Australian Open, Vandeweghe easily defeated 15th seed Roberta Vinci in the first round 6-1, 7-6^(7-3). After cruising through her match against Pauline Parmentier, Vandeweghe battled to defeat 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard in three tight sets. In the fourth round, Vandeweghe pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament as she defeated defending champion and world No. 1 Angelique Kerber in straight sets. This victory, her first against a No. 1 player, advanced Vandeweghe to her first quarterfinal at the Australian Open and only her second quarterfinal at a Grand Slam tournament, the first being at Wimbledon in 2015. She then defeated the seventh seed Garbine Muguruza in straight sets to advance to her first ever semifinal of a Grand Slam where she went head to head with the 2003 finalist Venus Williams. Despite winning the first set in a tiebreak and delivering a brilliant performance, Vandeweghe was defeated by Williams 7-6^(7-3), 2-6, 3-6, who spoke brightly of Vandeweghe following the match. Vandeweghe also became the fourth North American woman other than the Williams' sisters to make the semifinals at an Australian Open in a five year span, following Sloane Stephens (2013), Bouchard (2014) and Madison Keys (2015). Following the tournament, Vandeweghe rose into the Top 20 for the first time in her career. Seeded 19th at the French Open, she lost in the first round to Magdaléna Rybáriková.

At the Wimbledon Championships, Vandeweghe was seeded 24th. She defeated Mona Barthel in straight sets in the first round, then continued with straight set victories over Tatjana Maria and American compatriot Alison Riske. She then defeated fifth-seed Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round, advancing to the quarterfinals for the second time in three years. She was defeated by Rybáriková in the quarterfinals in straight sets, the second straight Major she was beaten by the Slovak. At the Stanford Classic Vandeweghe reached the final for the third time where she lost to fellow American Madison Keys.

Seeded 20th at the US Open, Vandeweghe recovered from a set down to beat compatriot Alison Riske in the first round then conquered Ons Jabeur for her first victory on Arthur Ashe stadium and to advance to the third round of the US Open for the first time in her career. She then defeated 10th seed Agnieszka Radwanska in three tight sets followed by a victory over 2015 French Open finalist Lucie Safarova to reach her third Grand Slam quarterfinal of the year, where she stunned top seed and world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in straight sets to advance to her second major semifinal, where she was defeated by Keys, thus being denied of the chance to reach her first Grand Slam final. Following the tournament, Vandeweghe rose to a career-high ranking of no. 16.

Team tennis

Vandeweghe represented the United States at the 2017 Hopman Cup.

Vandeweghe has played in the World TeamTennis pro league for seven seasons. She was a wildcard player for the Philadelphia Freedoms in 2016, after appearing as a roster player for them in 2015. Vandeweghe previously played for the Sacramento Capitals in 2009 and 2012, the Boston Lobsters in 2010 and 2011, and the Orange County Breakers in 2013.

Performance timelines

Overall Win–Loss: WTA Tour main draw (incl. Grand Slams), Olympics and Fed Cup

Singles

Current through the 2017 US Open.