(August 3, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. – Catherine “Caty” McNally and Cori “Coco” Gauff captured the Citi Open women’s doubles title on Saturday at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center. The United States pair, playing together for just the second time as a team beat fourth seeded team of Maria Sanchez of the U.S. and Hungary’s Fanny Stollar 6-2, 6-2 to claim their first WTA Tour title. The first time that “Team McCoco” paired up, they won the US Open Junior Girls’ doubles title.

Coco Gauff and Caty McNally win their first round doubles match against Katerina Siniakova and Julia Gorges 7-6, 6-2 to advance to Round 2 of the US Open, wh. Catherine ' Caty ' McNally (born November 20, 2001) is an American tennis player. She is the 2018 French Open juniors doubles and 2018 French Open girls' singles runner-up and US Open junior doubles champion. She has won two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as two singles titles and five doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

Official tennis player profile of John McNally on the ATP Tour. Featuring news, bio, rankings, playing activity, coach, stats, win-loss, points breakdown, videos,. Caty McNally defeats Timea Bacsinszky and advances to the second round. For those who follow tennis closely, McNally has been one to watch for some time. She won the junior title at the 2018 French Open and is the reigning junior doubles title winner at the US Open.

C. Mcnally Tennis

Asked why they like playing together, the 15-year-old Gauff said: “For me, for Caty, it’s her positive energy. She’s always to positive. I know today she wasn’t able to pull it off, but her attitude was so positive, you wouldn’t even know.”

McNally responded: “My favorite thing about Coco is honestly she’s just so laid back, so silly, I think, and super easy to get along with.”

“I mean, it was pretty much a last-minute thing to play together. I was actually thinking about playing with someone else, and then once I knew that Coco was in, I decided to play with her. I just know that we’re such a good doubles team, and we just have chemistry.”

“I thought this week was super good, ” Gauff added. “Like we didn’t even know we were playing together. Before the tournament we were lucky enough to get a wild card, and I’m glad that we were able to get that and we were able to take advantage of this opportunity.”

“I think for me, and I think for both of us, it means a lot,” Gauff said. “Obviously we want to do well in singles, but I think we just love competing in general, so whether it’s singles or doubles, we want to win no matter what. So I think that we really get as nervous as we do in doubles as we do in singles because we just want to make the other one proud.”

“Yeah, it means so much to both of us, obviously,” McNally added. “I got my first main draw WTA singles and doubles win, and I wasn’t even thinking this far. I was just taking it match by match, and I’m so happy that we were able to get the title.”

The 17-year-old McNally lost in the semifinals earlier in the day to Camila Giorgi 7-6, 6-2. I was McNally’s first ever final four at a WTA event. Earlier in the week, it was the Cincinnati teen’s first WTA Tour main draw match win in singles.

“Well, pretty much everything was surreal. I went into this tournament with zero expectation, so I mean, just how I did result-wise was surreal, and then just the support, every time we walked out on court it was packed stands, so much support, and yeah, I mean, it just means a lot,” Gauff said.

“Team McCoco” are looking forward to play together at the US Open and feel that they will do well.

C. Mcnally Tennis Player

“I mean, I don’t put any expectations, but I honestly believe that we can,” said Gauff. “We can do whatever we want when we put our minds to it, so I’m not going to say, oh, let’s just see what happens. I think our goal is to win it, and I think we’re not going to expect anything, we’re just going to expect to play our best, but I’m not going to say let’s see how far we can go because I think to be honest the way we’re playing we can go as far as we want.”

More to follow…..

Citi Open
July 29 – August 4, 2019
Washington, D.C., USA
$250,000

RESULTS – AUGUST 3, 2019

Singles – Semifinals
C. Giorgi (ITA) d [WC] C. McNally (USA) 76(5) 62
J. Pegula (USA) d [Q] A. Kalinskaya (RUS) 63 36 61

Doubles – Final
[WC] C. Gauff (USA) / C. McNally (USA) d [4] M. Sanchez (USA) / F. Stollar (HUN) 62 62

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 04, 2019
STADIUM start 12:00
ATP Doubles Final – J. Rojer (NED) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs [3] R. Klaasen (RSA) / M. Venus (NZL)

Not Before 2:00 pm
WTA Singles Final – C. Giorgi (ITA) vs J. Pegula (USA)

Not Before 5:00 pm
ATP Singles Final – N. Kyrgios (AUS) vs [3] D. Medvedev (RUS)

It took 46 minutes (and six service games, four aces and a 110 mph serve) for Catherine 'Caty' McNally to take the first set 7-5 over Serena Williams on Wednesday in their second-round clash. In front of a packed crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, she watched as Williams helplessly hit the ball high and out of bounds. She turned to the sideline, raised her arms up and down as if trying to pump up the crowd, and walked -- bounced, really -- to her chair.

She never smiled.

The 17-year-old did her best to stay composed and focused and act like this wasn't the biggest moment of her life.

'I was just really excited, honestly,' she said after the match. 'Could you tell from my reaction? I was really pumped up. Super happy just to get a set from her. That's something that not very many people do. But I knew I needed to stay focused because I knew she was going to pick up her level.'

Williams, meanwhile, looked stunned as she took her seat, and the crowd was in a frenzy. Who the heck is this girl?

For those who follow tennis closely, McNally has been one to watch for some time. She won the junior title at the 2018 French Open and is the reigning junior doubles title winner at the US Open with partner Cori 'Coco' Gauff. The two young stars teamed up again earlier this summer to win their first WTA trophy at the Citi Open in Washington D.C.

Nicknamed 'McCoco,' the duo will make their Grand Slam debut as a pair this week as well. Insiders have high expectations for both.

McCoco vibes���� @CatyMcNally pic.twitter.com/jc1UaIyMIp

- Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) August 1, 2019

Currently ranked No. 111, McNally has been slowly rising in the professional ranks in her first year on tour. Like Gauff, she made it through Wimbledon qualifying and into the main draw, but she lost in the first round. Gauff, for her part, captivated the world with her win over Venus Williams and run to the fourth round. McNally needed until Monday to win her first Grand Slam match, which she took in straight sets over veteran Timea Bacsinszky.

Coached by her mom, Lynn Nabors-McNally, and Kevin O'Neill, whom she has known since she was 4 years old, McNally embraces a looser attitude than perhaps many of her peers. In an interview with the Women's Tennis Coaching Association earlier this year, O'Neill talked about his philosophy and approach to the game. 'I mention to Caty all the time that tennis is just a game,' he said. 'Even though it's professional tennis, it's just a game. If you keep it a game, you can look at things a bit easier and not make it quite as stressful.'

When she walked on the court -- waving and smiling as her name was announced like she had done it before -- for the second match of the prime-time slate on Wednesday, she looked almost relaxed. She didn't look like someone playing in her second major match against the greatest player of all time or, for that matter, like someone who hadn't been born when Williams won her first Grand Slam title.

'I just try to take it as another match and not really worry about who's across the net,' she said later. 'I know if I did that, it might affect the way I play. I might become more emotionally attached to the match. That's not good for me.'

Her first set felt almost legendary. Williams had never dropped a set in any of her 18 second-round matches at the US Open. McNally made her do it in her first second-round match at a major.

'It was definitely something to get used to,' Williams said after the match of her young opponent's ability. 'You don't play players like her that have such full games.'

Unfortunately for McNally, Williams did adjust, and she took the next two sets handily 6-3, 6-1. In the third set, McNally earned just five points. However, she fought until the end and never seemed intimidated by the moment. When her once-magical night was over, McNally again showed no emotion and gave Williams a firm handshake at the net.

The outcome wasn't what she wanted, but a smiling McNally was quick to put her night into perspective as she walked into a room full of eager reporters shortly after.

'I'm really just happy with the way I overall played, the way I carried myself out on that stage,' she said. 'I walked out there, and I had the chills. That was the most insane atmosphere. I've never played on a court nowhere near that big, especially a night match. I couldn't have asked for anything better. It was just an unbelievable experience, something that I'll never forget for the rest of my life.'

She'll bring those memories with her when she and Gauff start their doubles campaign later this week.