CoCo Vandeweghe ( VAN-də-way; born Colleen Mullarkey, December 6, 1991) is an American former professional tennis player. A former junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she won two WTA Tour titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships. In doubles, Vandeweghe won one major title at the 2018 US Open with partner Ashleigh Barty.
In addition, she reached two major singles semifinals and the final of the WTA Elite Trophy to enter the top 10, reaching her career-high singles ranking of world No. 9 in January 2018. In addition, Vandeweghe twice reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in both 2015 and 2017.
Despite being predominantly a singles player, she also excelled at doubles. In 2016, she partnered with Martina Hingis in much of the second half of the season and reached the semifinals of the US Open, a performance that lifted her to a then-career-high ranking of No. 18 in the world. In 2018, Vandeweghe won her first Grand Slam title, partnering Ashleigh Barty at the US Open. Later on, they reached the semifinals at the 2018 WTA Finals, lifting Vandeweghe to a new career-high ranking of No. 14. She is also a two-time Grand Slam finalist in mixed doubles, reaching the final at the 2016 Australian Open with Horia Tecău and the 2016 US Open with compatriot Rajeev Ram.
Vandeweghe's prowess at both singles and doubles helped her win all eight of her Fed Cup rubbers in 2017 across three different ties to lead the U.S. team to its first championship since 2000. Her best surface was grass.
Born to 1976 Olympic swimmer Tauna Vandeweghe and her then-husband Robert Mullarkey, CoCo's maternal grandparents are 1952 Miss America Colleen Kay Hutchins and former New York Knicks basketball player Ernie Vandeweghe. Her uncle, her mother's brother, is basketball player Kiki VanDeWeghe, and her maternal grandmother's brother was NBA player Mel Hutchins. CoCo first started playing tennis with her elder brother, Beau, at the age of eleven. Tennis was the last sport she chose in her early life, after trying, among other things, basketball and wrestling. Vandeweghe eventually turned pro in April 2008. Self-described as a "total California girl", she spends most of her off-season at the beach with her family. She is good friends with fellow American players Madison Keys, Irina Falconi, and Shelby Rogers.
Vandeweghe is known to have one of the strongest serves on tour. In 2014, she hit 306 aces, third-highest on tour. She plays very aggressively, and likes to take the ball early and on the rise on both sides. Her groundstrokes are heavy and are delivered flat and powerful, particularly her forehand. Vandeweghe is efficient at the net and enjoys moving forward to avoid extended rallies. Because of her consistent serve, she has a solid mental game. Overall fitness and movement are cited as her main weaknesses, although they have been steadily improved. Her favorite shot is her forehand down the line, and her preferred surfaces are hard and grass courts. Previously, she was coached by Robert Van't Hof in Newport Beach, California, and Adam Peterson on the road. Pat Cash also coached her.
As a junior, Vandeweghe was coached by Guy Fritz, the father of Taylor Fritz. In 2008, she reached the singles final of the USTA Girls 18s national championship as the 3rd-seed, losing to top-seeded Gail Brodsky. Vandeweghe also won the doubles event with Jamie Hampton, defeating the top-seeded pair of Brodsky and Mallory Cecil in the final. With these results, she earned wildcards into the main draws of the singles and doubles events at the US Open.
In general, Vandeweghe did not play many junior events and needed a wildcard to enter the 2008 US Open girls' singles tournament. Nonetheless, she would go on to win the championship without dropping a set. Vandeweghe moved up to the ITF circuit after the event, and this would end up being her last junior tournament. With the victory, she rose to a career-best junior ranking of No. 15 in the world.
Vandeweghe made her WTA Tour debut at the 2006 San Diego Classic at the age of 14, losing in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko. The following year, she played there again as a wildcard and still lost in the first round.
In 2008, Vandeweghe played in her first Premier tournament at Miami, where she lost to Sabine Lisicki in the first round. At the US Open, where she would go on to win the girls' singles title, Vandeweghe made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam with the wildcard she received from reaching the finals of the USTA junior national championship. She would lose to second-seeded and eventual runner-up Jelena Janković in the first round.
In 2009, Vandeweghe obtained an invitation from the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play the JB Group Classic exhibition tournament with compatriot Venus Williams and Argentine Gisela Dulko in January. The trio would win the competition, with Vandeweghe partnering with Williams to win their doubles match in the final. In March, she was granted a wildcard to play at Miami, but lost in the first round. In Vandeweghe's second WTA tournament of the year, she recorded her first WTA Tour-level win at the LA Women's Tennis Championships, defeating world No. 58, Tathiana Garbin, in the first round.
2010–2011: Ascent into top 100, first Grand Slam match win
In 2010, Vandeweghe received a wildcard to the Australian Open, but she lost in the first round. In the spring, Vandeweghe won two back-to-back ITF tournaments at Carson and El Paso to see her WTA ranking climb from outside the top 300 to inside the top 200.
At the San Diego Open in August, Vandeweghe made her first deep run at a WTA tournament, beating Gisela Dulko and then Vera Zvonareva for her first top-ten victory. Despite high expectations at the US Open, Vandeweghe lost in the first round to Sabine Lisicki. Vandeweghe finished the year strong by qualifying for the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, a Premier 5 tournament. She would then defeat world No. 18, Aravane Rezaï, and eventually make the quarterfinals before losing to Victoria Azarenka.
In 2011, Vandeweghe came through the qualifying rounds at the Australian Open but was knocked out in the first round. Her first significant result of the year came at the U.S. Indoor Championships in Memphis, where she reached the quarterfinals to break into the WTA top 100 for the first time in her career. Towards the end of the season, Vandeweghe won first career match in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, defeating world No. 56, Alberta Brianti, in the first round.
2012–2013: Lucky loser WTA final
Vandeweghe got off to a slow start in the 2012 season but started to gain some momentum in the grass-court season when she reached the final of the $75k event at Nottingham. She followed this up by qualifying for Wimbledon, but she ended up losing the first round. At her next tournament, Vandeweghe entered the main draw of the Stanford Classic as a lucky loser and made it to her first career WTA final. In the semifinal, she upset fifth-seeded Yanina Wickmayer before falling to top-seeded Serena Williams, in straight sets. She was the first lucky loser to reach a final since Melinda Czink in early 2005 and also rose to a then career-high ranking of No. 69 in the world. Vandeweghe's best result in the rest of the year was a quarterfinal at the Washington Open.
In 2013, she began the season with another slow start. When her ranking fell outside the top 200, she began to rebound by reaching the quarterfinals at the Stanford Classic. Later in the season, Vandeweghe was able to qualify for the US Open and beat another qualifier in the first round to lift her ranking back closer to the top 100.