Coco Gauff and Victoria Mboko teaming up for doubles at the Qatar Open 2026 made headlines when the draw was revealed a few days ago. The American has now spilled the beans on how their partnership came to fruition during her recent press conference in Doha.
Gauff and Mboko had initially paired with different players. However, neither of them would’ve made the cut with their respective original partners. Both wanted to compete at all costs, and Gauff figured if she teamed up with Mboko, then their combined ranking would make them eligible. The Canadian youngster agreed to Gauff’s proposal, and the latter is now pleased to compete by her side.
“Yeah, well, I was supposed to play with someone else, but we weren’t going to get in. So I approached her because she was also playing with someone else and they weren’t going to get in. So I was like, If we play together, we’ll get in. She said yes. Yeah, happy to be back on the doubles court, especially with someone as great as Vicky is,” Gauff said.
Gauff is a two-time champion in doubles at the Qatar Open, claiming both of her titles with Jessica Pegula. The duo captured the title for the first time in 2022, and successfully defended it a year later.
Gauff and Mboko will take on seventh seeds Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the first round of the Qatar Open on Monday, February 9. The winners will face Vera Zvonareva and Laura Siegemund in the second round, who won their first-round showdown on Sunday.
As far as singles is concerned, Victoria Mboko already made a winning start to her campaign in Doha. She beat Marie Bouzkova 7-5, 6-2 in the first round on Sunday. Gauff, on the other hand, received a first-round bye, and will take on lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round.
Coco Gauff to commence her Qatar Open 2026 campaign against Elisabetta Cocciaretto
Coco Gauff will begin her singles journey at the Qatar Open 2026 against lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The latter initially lost in the qualifying rounds but thanks to a spate of last-minute withdrawals, got a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser. She beat Elsa Jacquemot 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the first round.
After a couple of solid results at the Qatar Open, Gauff has underperformed massively for the past two years. She made the quarterfinals on her debut in 2022, and repeated the feat in 2023 as well. However, she failed to register a win in 2024 and 2025. She will be keen to snap her losing skid this year.
Gauff is in the same half of the draw as her doubles partner Victoria Mboko. The two could lock horns in the semifinals, provided Mboko isn’t ousted by reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina prior to that.
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