Coco Gauff says she is disappointed but not ‘completely crushed’ by her exit from the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The world No.3 suffered a straight sets defeat at the hands of Paula Badosa who is through to the last four of a major event for the first time in her career. Gauff hit twice as many winners (31-15) than her opponent but she came undone by a costly 41 unforced errors. Furthermore, she struggled behind her second serve where she won only 12 out of 34 points and hit six double faults.
“I think the way I played, even though it wasn’t my best, I gave it my all on the court, so that’s something to be proud of.” Said Gauff.
“I fought until the end, some matches are going to go my way; some are not. I think it’s one of those things that maybe a couple of years ago I would feel a lot more crushed and feel like the world is ending type sadness.
“But now I think it’s just disappointed that I could have done a little bit better in some areas.”
Despite being only 20, expectations are high for the American to constantly be at the top of the women’s game. She already has one Grand Slam title after winning the 2023 US Open, as well as eight other WTA titles, including the 2024 end-of-season finals trophy. Since 2020, only two female players (Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek) have made more Grand Slam quarter-final appearances than her.
As for Gauff’s critics, the tennis star says she no longer pays attention to the comments as she once did.
“You just have to realise that most of the internet coaches have never coached anyone at my level or have never played,” she said.
“You’ll hear, not commentators, but people saying, ‘Oh, she should have made this or she should have made that’…But when you’re out there it’s different.
“I’m the one who makes the decision at the end of the day. If people want to say things, it is what it is. I take it with a grain of salt. Some people do mean well though, so I don’t look at it as all bad.”
Instead, Gauff’s Focus is staying in line with her own goals and not what others have set for her. Although she admits there is room for improvement in her game.
“I’m proud of myself, and that’s all I can say,” she stated.
“I promise that I’m going to continue to try my best to improve and live up to my own expectations of myself. Whatever everybody else has I can’t control that.”
Gauff has won 64 Grand Slam matches so far in her career.