‘It’s going to happen’ – Coco Gauff hits back at critics over drop in form with chance to end 24-year Serena Williams record
Coco Gauff has remained defiant over her poor form amid widespread criticism. The American tennis star is currently in California ahead of the prestigious Indian Wells tournaments and had a message for her critics. Coco Gauff made her remarks during her pre-tournament press conferenceGETTY It was a February to forget for Gauff, who struggled with the Middle East swing and failed to pick up a single win. After her quarter-final defeat to Paula Badosa at the Australian Open, the 20-year-old suffered further losses to Martha Kostyuk in Doha before losing to McCartney Kessler 6-4, 7-5 in Dubai. It means the world No.3 is heading into Indian Wells with three consecutive straight-set defeats. Nevertheless, Gauff brushed off criticism about her form in her pre-tournament press conference, believing there will be plenty of opportunities to display her quality at Indian Wells. “Everyone makes a bigger deal than what it is,” Gauff told reporters. “I lost two matches – I’ll lose more matches back to back. It’s going to happen. “Everyone is, like: ‘Oh, she’s sinking.’ Okay, we’ve been through this. I’ll pick it back up. To me, for me, I guess it feels like a month, but it’s just two tournaments, and at this calendar, I have so many other opportunities, and I can’t win every match.” The 2023 US Open champion did admit that her losses stung, but was quick to reiterate that she expects to quickly return to form. “But at the end of the day, I was upset that I lost, but it’s a loss, like, it’s going to happen again. I’m going to lose back-to-back again,” Gauff said. “Hopefully, it doesn’t happen too many times in my career. Coco Gauff has got straight to practising in sunny CaliforniaGETTY Coco Gauff struggled during the Middle East swing in Doha and DubaiGETTY “It’s just one of those things that you just move on and get better. You know, the results will come. It’s, you know, just normal, I think.” The American reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells last year and is set to play her opening match on Saturday, having received an opening-round bye. Gauff will play either Britain’s Emma Raducanu or Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima as she looks to make history in California. No American woman has won Indian Wells since Serena Williams in 2001, and with a stacked US entourage this year, there has been no better opportunity to end the 24-year drought. Along with Gauff, who enters as the highest ranked American player, world No.8 Emma Navarro will back her chances, having just won the Merida Open in Mexico. World No.4 Jessica Pegula will also look to make it back-to-back tournament wins as she just won the ATX Open in Austin. Meanwhile, Madison Keys, the recent Australian Open champion, is also in California and has backed her compatriots to do well at this year’s event. “I think it’s probably been a little while since there have been so many American women doing as well as they are,” Keys told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m really excited. I think not only are there the names that everyone obviously knows and are a little bit more established, but there’s also a ton of up-and-comers that are doing really, really well. “I would not be surprised if you saw some really great results from the U.S. women.”
Coco Gauff has remained defiant over her poor form amid widespread criticism.
The American tennis star is currently in California ahead of the prestigious Indian Wells tournaments and had a message for her critics.
It was a February to forget for Gauff, who struggled with the Middle East swing and failed to pick up a single win.
After her quarter-final defeat to Paula Badosa at the Australian Open, the 20-year-old suffered further losses to Martha Kostyuk in Doha before losing to McCartney Kessler 6-4, 7-5 in Dubai.
It means the world No.3 is heading into Indian Wells with three consecutive straight-set defeats.
Nevertheless, Gauff brushed off criticism about her form in her pre-tournament press conference, believing there will be plenty of opportunities to display her quality at Indian Wells.
“Everyone makes a bigger deal than what it is,” Gauff told reporters.
“I lost two matches – I’ll lose more matches back to back. It’s going to happen.
“Everyone is, like: ‘Oh, she’s sinking.’ Okay, we’ve been through this. I’ll pick it back up. To me, for me, I guess it feels like a month, but it’s just two tournaments, and at this calendar, I have so many other opportunities, and I can’t win every match.”
The 2023 US Open champion did admit that her losses stung, but was quick to reiterate that she expects to quickly return to form.
“But at the end of the day, I was upset that I lost, but it’s a loss, like, it’s going to happen again. I’m going to lose back-to-back again,” Gauff said.
“Hopefully, it doesn’t happen too many times in my career.
“It’s just one of those things that you just move on and get better. You know, the results will come. It’s, you know, just normal, I think.”
The American reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells last year and is set to play her opening match on Saturday, having received an opening-round bye.
Gauff will play either Britain’s Emma Raducanu or Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima as she looks to make history in California.
No American woman has won Indian Wells since Serena Williams in 2001, and with a stacked US entourage this year, there has been no better opportunity to end the 24-year drought.
Along with Gauff, who enters as the highest ranked American player, world No.8 Emma Navarro will back her chances, having just won the Merida Open in Mexico.
World No.4 Jessica Pegula will also look to make it back-to-back tournament wins as she just won the ATX Open in Austin.
Meanwhile, Madison Keys, the recent Australian Open champion, is also in California and has backed her compatriots to do well at this year’s event.
“I think it’s probably been a little while since there have been so many American women doing as well as they are,” Keys told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’m really excited. I think not only are there the names that everyone obviously knows and are a little bit more established, but there’s also a ton of up-and-comers that are doing really, really well.
“I would not be surprised if you saw some really great results from the U.S. women.”
