The last time most casual tennis fans saw Coco Gauff, her US Open title defense had ended in devastating fashion with a fourth-round loss to fellow American Emma Navarro, the same opponent who knocked her out at Wimbledon.

But what a difference four months makes.

After another change in her coaching team, some minor technical adjustments and a little bit of confidence, Gauff enters the Australian Open this week as one of if not the favorite to take home her second Grand Slam title.

It’s been a fascinating journey for the 20-year-old Floridian. After a largely disappointing summer, including a medal-less trip to the Paris Olympics and several early-round losses, something clicked for Gauff last fall. She won the China Open, a prestigious WTA 1000 event, then backed it up by winning a record $4.8 million payday at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.

More importantly, she finished the season with wins over her two biggest rivals in that event, beating No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who had beaten Gauff in 11 of their previous 12 meetings.

It wasn’t a fluke.

At the United Cup a little more than a week ago to open the 2025 season, Gauff once again beat Swiatek, 6-4, 6-4, helping Team USA win the title and making a major statement that their previously one-sided rivalry had turned.

“Obviously this start of the season gives me a lot of confidence,” she told reporters. “I feel like when I’m playing confident tennis I’m playing great tennis.”

Everything about Gauff’s game looks improved since separating from ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert as her primary coach and adding Matt Daly, a former Notre Dame player who is known as a grip specialist. It has led to Gauff deploying a steadier and more punishing forehand, while fixing some issues with the serve that gave her so much trouble last year.

Barring a pretty big upset in the early rounds, Gauff should be on for a semifinal showdown with Sabalenka, the two-time defending Australian Open champion.

Here are four more things to know about the first major of the tennis season, beginning Saturday evening in the U.S.:

Carlos Alcaraz goes for the career Slam

You have to be a pretty special talent to win two majors in a season and the Olympic silver medal but still come out of 2024 feeling like it was a slight disappointment. But that’s kind of where Alcaraz found himself last year as he battled some injuries, inconsistent stretches and lost significant ground in the rankings to No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

But after adding the Roland Garros title to his haul last spring, the 21-year-old Spaniard needs only an Australian title to complete the career Grand Slam. That’s something only eight men have done, and Alcaraz still has three more chances to displace Rafael Nadal (24 years, 102 days) as the youngest to pull it off.

Alcaraz has not had great success in Australia, but it’s probably just a matter of time. The question for 2025 is whether he’ll show improved proficiency on a fast hard court, where his inability to get easy points with the serve has put him at a slight disadvantage in the past.