Coco Gauff targeting rare ‘Channel Slam’ but must figure out a way to conquer the grass

Fresh off of her French Open title run, Coco Gauff has an opportunity to achieve something no woman has in tennis for the past decade – that is pulling off the ‘Channel Slam’.

Winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back in the same season has been a relatively rare occurrence on the women’s tour, with Serena Williams being the last to accomplish that feat back in 2015.

The swift transition from clay to grass that comes around every June on the professional circuit can be tricky to navigate.

And as Gauff attempts to follow up her success in Paris with victory in south-west London, the American joked that she perhaps should get some advice from Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz, who clinched the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double last year and is going for a second one this fortnight.

“Oh, that would be really hard,” Gauff said on Saturday when asked about the possibility of completing the Channel Slam – a term used to describe that particular double.  

“I understand why it hasn't been done that often. Except I guess Carlos, he makes it look pretty easy. Novak [Djokovic], too. I didn't realize it was 10 years since Serena.

“It is a quick turnaround. I think that's the reason why this kind of double is so hard, it's a quick turnaround. You go from winning such a high tournament and kind of having to be back to work not even a few days later.”

Only three weeks separate Wimbledon from Roland Garros, which for some, can be a challenging stretch.

For Alcaraz, it was enough for him to head to Ibiza for a few days to celebrate his French Open success, then fly to London to compete for and win the title at Queen’s Club, before shifting his focus to Wimbledon.

Last year, a stop in Ibiza was also sandwiched between his two