Coco Gauff was looking to bounce back from her quarterfinal loss at the Australian Open last month. However, she suffered more heartbreak at the hands of World No. 57 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who dispatched the World No. 4 in straight sets in the second round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday, February 10.
Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, was shocked by her early exit from the WTA 1000 tournament at the hands of the Italian, who entered the main draw through qualifiers.
“Wow lucky loser Cocciaretto takes out Gauff for the 1st time in Doha in straight sets, she hadn’t won a set in there 3 previous matches, 3rd year in arow Coco has lost 1st rd there,” Gilbert wrote.
A tennis fan commented on Gilbert’s post, suggesting Gauff should skip Doha next year and only play the Dubai Open in the Middle East swing, since there were no points to defend in Qatar. Agreeing to the fan’s suggestion, Gilbert replied, “Good call.”
Gauff failed to assert herself in the match and allowed Cocciaretto to set the pace from the outset. The two-time Grand Slam champion will have some time to regroup and assess her game plan before the Dubai Tennis Championships next week.
Coco Gauff Admits Not Being Able to Translate Her Good Practices on Court
After the loss, Gauff reflected on her recent results and why she has been failing to assert herself on court in important matches.
“I just feel like I haven’t showed up with my best level the last few matches. I’m just looking to find that again. I just feel like some of the things I’ve been working on in practice aren’t translating to the match court, which is super frustrating,” Gauff said.
“I’ve been having good practices, but just not playing well in the matches. I just need to find how it can translate. I tried to be more aggressive and was hitting more unforced errors… I think I need to figure out how to play against players like her, who hit super flat and take everything early. I think the last two matches showed I’ve been struggling with that. That’s something I need to work on in practice,” she added.
Gauff will certainly be under immense pressure in Dubai next week, as all the top names will be there. Also, there is a high possibility of a significant shift in the WTA rankings after the Dubai Open.
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Rafael Nadal Makes Feelings Crystal Clear About Novak Djokovic Still Going For 25th Slam at 38
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