You could already argue that Coco Gauff is an all-surface player, given her career trajectory so far.
She burst to prominence as a teen phenom with her fourth-round run on the grass courts of Wimbledon in 2019. Three years later, she reached her first major final on the clay courts of Roland Garros. Last year, she went all the way to her first Grand Slam title, on US Open hard courts.
However, the 20-year-old has shown distinct preferences for certain surfaces as she has worked her way up the rankings to world No.3.
Not long after triumphing in New York, Gauff admitted during a Tennis Channel interview that this came as something of a surprise.
“I never thought US Open would have been where it would happen,” she laughed of her Grand Slam breakthrough. “I always thought it would have been Roland Garros, because all my best results have been on clay.”
Until the 2023 US Open, that may have been true of her results at Grand Slam level.
Gauff has reached at least the quarterfinal stage at Roland Garros the past three years; in 2021 it was where she progressed to the last eight at a major for the first time.
However, of her six career titles, the most recent five have come on hard courts, where her coach Brad Gilbert believes she currently shines brightest.
"Her movement (on clay) is such a good factor, but obviously (Iga) Swiatek has kind of established herself here at a young age as being dominant on clay,” Gilbert said on this week’s episode of The Sit-Down podcast.
“(Coco) made her first final of a major on clay, and so that obviously kind of makes you feel like 'OK, maybe that should be my best surface’. Andre (Agassi) got to the finals of the French a couple of times when he was really young, and you thought he would win that. And then that became the last (major title of the four) he could win.
"They're all difficult as heck to win, and wherever you get the first one, it's like, savour it, and then start focusing on the next one.
LISTEN: Brad Gilbert on The Sit-Down
"I see like at this point, hard courts is probably her best surface. I think ultimately the surface she will improve the most on is grass, because I think her game has a lot of upside on grass.”
Gauff needs to reach the last eight at Wimbledon to complete her Grand Slam quarterfinal set.
She reached that stage of the Australian Open for the first time earlier this year, going on to appear in the semifinals where she fell to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Despite being a prominent factor on tour for several years, Gauff only just celebrated her 20th birthday last month.
Her talent and success at such a young age is something that has impressed Gilbert in his nearly nine months of working with his fellow American.
"I think there's no reason why she shouldn't be good on any surface, because of her movement and her willingness to grind on the court,” said Gilbert, a former world No.4 who also coached Agassi and Andy Roddick to Grand Slam titles.
"Coco has a lot of resolve for a young player, and she's learning how what happened today doesn't mean (that’s) what is going to happen tomorrow. Sometimes when she's not at her best she finds a way to grind through.
"She's driven, fiercely, to get better and keep improving and keep moving up.”