Coco Gauff shows love for former doubles partner Caty McNally as she defeats top seed to win Newport Challenger

Coco Gauff congratulated her former doubles partner, Caty McNally, as she defeated top seed Tatjana Maria to win the WTA Challenger event in Newport. It was McNally's second singles Challenger title.

23-year-old McNally had a fantastic campaign at the WTA 125 event in Newport. She last won a singles Challenger event in Midland in 2022 and finished runner-up in Paris in 2023.

The seasoned doubles player was congratulated by her former partner, Gauff, on Instagram. The French Open champion shared a post about McNally's triumph and added several heart emojis.

Coco Gauff's Instagram Story. (Image: Instagram/@cocogauff)

McNally began her campaign with an exceptional win over Darja Vidmanova 6-0, 6-2 before ousting eighth seed Mariam Bolkvadze 6-0, 7-5. She dropped a set for the first time against third seed Talia Gibson but managed to win 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.

Against compatriot Elizabeth Mandlik in the semifinal, McNally went down a set 1-6 but staged a solid comeback to win the next two sets 7-5, 6-4. In the final, against the experienced Maria, the American went a set down again but recovered emphatically to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The World No. 135 in singles is a seasoned doubles player and has even reached multiple Grand Slam finals. She has enjoyed partnering with Coco Gauff for years.

Coco Gauff and Caty McNally played the 2021 US Open women's doubles final

Caty McNally and Coco Gauff at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier - Source: Getty

Caty McNally burst onto the scene in juniors with a girls’ doubles title at the 2018 French Open, partnering Iga Swiatek, and followed it up by winning the US Open girls’ doubles alongside Coco Gauff later that year.

Turning professional in 2019, McNally teamed up with Gauff, famously known as "McCoco." The duo won their first WTA doubles title at the Citi Open, followed by victory in Luxembourg in 2019 and Parma in 2021. They also reached the US Open women’s doubles final in 2021 but could not get the better of the eventual winners, Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai.

Overall, McNally has claimed eight WTA doubles titles. In February 2023, she teamed up with Diane Parry to lift the Mérida Open trophy. She also partnered with Hailey Baptiste, Anna Kalinskaya, and Asia Muhammad, winning events in St. Petersburg, Ostrava, and Cluj-Napoca.

McNally reached a career-high No. 11 in doubles (April 2022) and has two Grand Slam finals to her name. After losing in 2021, along with Gauff, she lost again with Taylor Townsend at the 2022 US Open against Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam