CoCo Vandeweghe, native New Yorker, is back for the US Open—but not as a player

SANTA MONICA, Calif.—As the US Open nears, CoCo Vandeweghe finds herself in new territory. For the first time since her mid-teens, Vandeweghe is not preparing to compete in her homeland’s major.

Having retired from tennis last fall, Vandeweghe now heads to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as a broadcaster.

“I enjoyed the experience of not playing at Wimbledon this summer,” says the 32-year-old. “It’s a fun way to see a tournament.”

Born in New York City but raised in the San Diego area, Vandeweghe first hit the tennis radar in a major way when she won 2008 US Open junior title.

“I really didn’t understand then when it meant to win a junior Grand Slam,” she says. “Being from California, winning the sectionals and nationals were my priorities. But in New York that year it all flowed super easily.”

Vandeweghe all six of her matches without losing a set. Ten years later, she won another US Open trophy, partnering with Ash Barty to win the doubles. In the final, the Aussie-American pair overcame three championship points to edge Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.

“Winning in Arthur Ashe Stadium was amazing,” says Vandeweghe. “They opened up the lower bowl for everyone to come down, so it was rowdy, loud and a lot of fun.”

Perhaps another US Open moment paved the way for Vandeweghe’s current role as a broadcaster for such media outlets as Tennis Channel and the BBC. During the 2015 tournament, Vandeweghe was a trailblazer when she agreed to conduct an interview after winning the first set of her first-round match versus Sloane Stephens.

“A lot of the other players couldn’t believe I agreed to do that,” says Vandeweghe. “But to me, it was no big deal.”

After all, Vandeweghe’s proximity to big-time American sports runs deep. Her mother, Tara, swam in the 1976 Olympics. Vandeweghe’s uncle, Kiki, was a two-time NBA All-Star in the ‘80s. And her grandfather, Ernie, was in the NBA back in the ‘40s and ‘50s.

“My whole life I’ve been playing and watching all kinds of sports,” says Vandeweghe, “so I was very familiar with mid-game interviews.”  She went on to win the match.

Trial by Fire

Unprecedented as it was for a tennis player to offer mid-match commentary, the joke among Vandeweghe’s family and friends is that she can talk to a wall. It’s no wonder that last fall, within weeks of her final match after 15 years in the pros, Vandeweghe seamlessly transitioned to her new profession.

“It’s amazing how much you can see watching tennis and dissecting,” says Vandeweghe. “You seem to find a solution really easily when you’re talking about it versus when you’re actually out there playing.”

On this day at Tennis Channel’s headquarters in Santa Monica, Vandeweghe has just finished calling the action on a women’s match and is sitting in the green room, awaiting the conclusion of the day’s play so she can appear on the network’s highlight show, TC Live.

“Call it a trial by fire,” says Vandeweghe. “I’ve learned that being in TV can also be as unpredictable as being at a tournament and waiting for tennis matches to end. So you’ve got to be on your toes.”

But for all the exposure young CoCo had to excellence in team sports, she found tennis’ raw individualism far more compelling.

“One reason I went all into tennis is because, it’s a singular sport,” says Vandeweghe. “We can do it on our own and we don’t have to expect someone else to make the final shot.”

Yet much as Vandeweghe enjoys tennis’ strong emphasis on self-reliance, many of her greatest moments have come in team play. In 2017, she was the star of America’s quest to win the Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) for the first time since 2000. Over the course of encounters versus Germany, the Czech Republic and Belarus, Vandeweghe went 8-0, including a clinching doubles win alongside Shelby Rogers in the decisive match of the final.

“That’s first and foremost my biggest highlight,” she says.

Another team moment came in the 2020 World Team Tennis finals. Playing for the New York Empire in the decisive doubles match against the Chicago Smash, Vandeweghe and Nicole Melichar first fought off three championship points. At 6-all in the closing tiebreaker—championship point for both squads—Vandeweghe hit a down-the-line forehand return winner that grazed the baseline.

“I’ve never been under that kind of pressure, ever,” Vandeweghe said that day. “It was so much fun to be on my racquet to control the situation.”

As for singles success, let’s return to 2017. At the Australian Open, Vandeweghe defeated the holder, world No. 1 Angelique Kerber, and followed with a victory over reigning Roland Garros champ Garbine Muguruza. On the grass, she made the last eight at Wimbledon for a second time. And in New York, Vandeweghe earned wins over Ons Jabeur, Agnieszka Radwanska and top-seeded Karolina Pliskova on her way to the semis. By January 2018 Vandeweghe had reached a career high ranking of No. 9.

Dreams Coming True

Away now from the game, Vandeweghe most misses the thrill of competition.

“That was what I enjoyed the most,” she says. “I didn’t really like the travel and the practice weeks, but the chance to go head-to-head versus someone and beat them was my favorite thing.”

Vandeweghe has high praise for three coaches who greatly helped her. She enjoyed two stints with Craig Kardon, coach of Martina Navratilova and many others.

“Craig helped me make the jump from being a good pro to being comfortable in the higher ranks,” she says. “That’s where I struggled when I was coming up.”

During the final phase of her career, Vandeweghe worked with 1993 Roland Garros doubles winner Luke Jensen. She also relished time with 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.

“He brought in a more ruthless, cutthroat aspect to push into the Top 10,” says Vandeweghe. “He was a tough customer and tough to please. I learned a lot.”

In the months since retiring, save for an exhibition she participated in last fall, Vandeweghe says she’s spent no more than 30 minutes on a tennis court. She’s instead enjoyed waking up without a scheduled practice, match or flight. While in L.A. for Tennis Channel, she’ll head south a few miles to the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Marina del Rey. (Recent reads: I Love Capitalism!, the autobiography of Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone; A Court of Thorns and Roses, a multi-volume fantasy romance series.)

Though she has no desire to coach, Vandeweghe can’t imagine a life for herself anywhere but in sports.

“It feels nice to have a number of your dreams come true,” she says, “and to be able to say that you did everything possible with what you were given. So I definitely am content with how I left things on the tennis court.”