Coco Gauff returns to Berlin

She kept her promise. After an exciting visit to Berlin last year, Coco Gauff left the German capital saying enthusiastically, "I'll be back." And she is. The current world number six is taking a second shot at winning the tournament at the bett1open 2023, which takes place from June 17th to 25th  and is endowed with 850,000 US dollars. The strongest players in the world will compete on the lawn of the Steffi Graf Stadium at the LTTC "Rot-Weiß" e. V. in Berlin's Grunewald. The American, who has yet to win a tournament on grass in her astonishing career thus far, is back to attack.

Coco Gauff announces, “I’m excited to come back to compete at the bett1open in beautiful Berlin in June! The grass courts treated me very well last year and I hope to see many of you out there to create this special pre-Wimbledon atmosphere again!”

In 2015, at just 15 years and 106 days old, she became the youngest player in the Open Era to qualify for Wimbledon. Since then, she has been praised a future superstar. Her offensive style, as a player on the court and as a person in conversation, has already made the 19-year-old an idol despite her young age. People come to tournaments just to see her. Because they know: It's worth it.

Her coach and mentor is Patrick Mouratoglou, who has made Serena Williams the benchmark in women's tennis worldwide. His verdict on Gauff: "When she looks at you and tells you she's going to be number one - you can believe it."

Last year at the bett1open, Gauff only fell in the semifinals to the eventual winner Ons Jabeur - who, by the way, will also be competing in Berlin again. The reigning world champion Caroline Garcia, Olympic gold-medalist Belinda Bencic, two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and local hero Sabine Lisicki have also already confirmed their participation.

This said: Coco Gauff joins a field of world-class level participants.