'Grateful' Coco Gauff seeing the big picture at 2022 WTA Finals

The 2022 Roland Garros finalist didn't officially cement her spot in the field until the last week of the regular season, as did four others. She enters the event ranked a career-best No. 4 in singles, and No. 2 in doubles, and she and Pegula are the first Americans to play in both draws at the WTA Finals since Serena and Venus Williams a decade ago. 

Making it to Fort Worth twice over is another highlight in a year that's been full of them, and it's one that Gauff isn't taking lightly. 

"I think it proves, just shows my improvement throughout the years," Gauff said. "I busted onto the scene in a very big way, and a lot of people were having opinions on whether or not I would do well or not. I think this just proves that all the work that I've put in is paying off. Obviously, I want to go further. The WTA Finals is not where I want this chapter to end. I think it just shows that I'm progressing. Sometimes, I forget that I am.

"I think it allows me to take a step back and realize that I am one of the top eight players in the world, and I should be grateful for that."

In Saturday's official draw, Gauff was drawn into a round-robin group named for another prodigious American, Tracy Austin, alongside world No. 1 Iga Swiatek; US Open semifinalist Caroline Garcia; and Daria Kasatkina, a winner of two titles in 2022. Though she takes a losing head-to-head record against both Swiatek and Kasatkina into the group stage, and lost her last match to Garcia in the US Open quarterfinals in September, Gauff's not thinking about the past. Rather, she's living in the moment of her latest achievement.

"I think I'm just going to have a lot of fun regardless of how it goes," Gauff said. "Obviously I want to win, but I'm just going to focus on enjoying this. This is my first time playing this tournament. Hopefully, I'll be here many more WTA Finals in the future, but I'm just going to enjoy the first one."