Posted: Saturday, May 18 2024
Queens, N.Y. : Coco Gauff holds her trophy after beating Aryna… [+] slam at the Women’s Singles US Open Tennis Championships in Flushing Meadow Queens, New York, on September 9, 2023. (Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM/Getty Images).
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Coco Gauff is not a crisis. She is the 20-year old major champion that American tennis needs, and her ambitions are double-digits. Emma Raducanu’s career trajectory should have come with a warning to the public about conquering Flushing Meadows at a young age. Gauff, however, has been performing solidly but not spectacularly ever since September’s magical moment.
World No. 3 faces relative problems. The problems that the World No. Her success in New York boosted the start of 2024. The Auckland Open was her second consecutive title after she defeated Elina Svitolina. This was her seventh WTA Final victory in eight attempts. It shows a level of invincibility from World No. Iga Swaiatek dominated the field when she swept through it in 2022. Gauff was approaching Melbourne with 29 wins from 33 matches.
The Australian Open journey was a huge success. Gauff beat her previous record of a 4th round place by easily reaching the semi-finals. Aryna sabalenka, who was fired up after her U.S. Open loss, won in straight sets this time. The American has still beaten Sabalenka’s head-to-head record. Gauff had to look back on the missed opportunities she made as she grew out of her teenage years at the end winter. When opportunities are running short, losing hurts even more.
This campaign has seen a pattern of close calls, which means that she doesn’t get to the end of a single week. Gauff was beaten by Anna Kalinskaya at the Dubai Open and then she lost to Maria Sakkari at Indian Wells, as the Greek improved her head-to-head records to 5-2. Caroline Garcia beat her in the Miami Open. After a disappointing Sunshine Double, it was perhaps inevitable that she would lose to Marta Kostyuk in Stuttgart and Madrid on her least favourite surface.
This week, in Rome, the Delray Beach player showed her best battling instincts in order to beat Paula Badosa and reach the final 16. She then defeated Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen who has been experiencing a slump in her fortunes in the court over the past four months. The 21-year old Chinese star acknowledged that motivation was a problem after her run to the final at Melbourne. Gauff, however, has a lot of problems with her technical shortcomings.
Gauff has been in tweaking mode since reuniting with Brad Gilbert this week for the Italian Open. She served a combined total of 26 double-faults against Jaqueline Christian and Badosa. She is trying to combine a defensive mindset with a proactive one. Swiatek has now gained a psychological advantage after beating her in the semifinals on Thursday, making it ten victories from 11 meetings. After the stunning win in Madrid, Sabalenka and the Pole met again for a second final.
Gauff wants to be a part of this rich vein of competition that is currently at the top of WTA rankings. Since she defeated Venus Williams at Wimbledon 2019 on Centre Court, the road has been paved for her to conquer the world. She still has plenty of time on her side. Her U.S. Open win was the spark, but her persona and game are still evolving. Gauff became a Gen Z icon after she almost joined the climate change protest in her semi-final match at New York. Her value will boom.
Iga Swaatek from Poland and Coco Gauff from the United States shake their hands at the 16th of May in Rome, Italy. [+] The net after the semi final on Day Eleven at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia on May 16, 2024 at Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
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She is a good player, but she needs to save her energy for the assault on women’s sport. “I’ve always wanted to win more than one. “The only thing I’ll try to remember is that [the US Open] It’s just how I won. It wasn’t the best tennis I played. “It was more mental fire”, she said at the start of the year. In the end, Gauff’s resilience will need to be backed up by a set of consistent skills. Gilbert will have to work on improving key shots, such as the forehand that is so often discussed and an opening service which can go wrong.
Gauff, for now, is a distant third to the Big Two. The foundations prevent Gauff from having her best day ever. As soon as Gauff finds her true level, she won’t have many people to answer. Rome was not built in a single day, so Paris is probably too ambitious for the moment.
Source: Forbes