"We still support each other" - Caty McNally speaks on friendship with former doubles partner Coco Gauff

Caty McNally recently revealed that she and former doubles partner Coco Gauff are still very good friends despite parting ways as a team.

McNally and Gauff played doubles together from 2019 to the end of 2021, winning three titles and finishing runner-up at the 2021 US Open. Gauff, however, now plays doubles alongside Jessica Pegula, with whom she recently won the Canadian Open to climb to the No. 1 position in the discipline.

McNally was asked for her thoughts on Gauff's feat following her first-round win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Monday. Speaking to the press, the 20-year-old revealed that she congratulated the teenager on accomplishing the milestone.

"I thought it was incredible. Yeah, no, I reached out to Coco and congratulated her on that milestone," Caty McNally said. "I honestly didn't know, like, that match like if she won it she was going to get World No. 1."

McNally insisted that she and Gauff share a "great friendship" despite parting ways and added that they still "support each other" whenever needed.

"Coco and I, yeah, like we are not playing right now, as everyone has probably seen, but we still have a great friendship," McNally added. "I still consider her one of my best friends on tour. We still support each other through the ups and downs."

The older American highlighted the 18-year-old Gauff's exemplary off-court behavior, citing how the latter still texts her before and after a match to wish her well.

"She texted me this morning, 'Good luck'. She texted me after my match, 'Congratulations'. No matter what, yeah, Coco, it's not only on the court; it's an off-the-court thing too."