Coco Gauff advanced to the Miami Open quarterfinals after defeating Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the fourth round on Monday. Gauff remained composed throughout the match. Although she lost the second set, the American responded strongly in the third to win.
After her win, the 22-year-old gave an on-court interview in which she revealed that a fan comment earlier prompted some adjustments to her game plan against Cirstea.
“Honestly, I saw a tweet that said I should go to the net more. And I was like, ‘Yeah, you are right.’ I won a lot of net points,” Gauff said. “So, I obviously was thinking about that all match point, and I was just hoping I didn’t miss the volley at the net because I’ve done that a couple of times, but I was just focused on hitting it over the net.”
Later at her press conference, Gauff clarified that she read the fan’s suggestion on Threads rather than X, calling the latter “toxic.”
“Yeah, actually, I saw it on Threads. I got confused, it wasn’t Twitter. I’m on a Twitter break. Yeah, Twitter is a bit toxic. I actually haven’t been on in a month or two. I saw it on Threads,” Gauff said.
“Yeah, I consider myself someone who can volley decently well. I’m obviously not the best volleyer, but definitely not the worst. I think trying to remember that I can come up with some good volleys. Also, sometimes the volleys are the easiest play because there’s the least amount of thinking. It is really hard to overthink a volley,” she added.
Coco Gauff to Face Belinda Bencic in the Miami Open QF
Fourth seed Gauff will take on 12th seed Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. In the Round of 16, Bencic breezed past Amanda Anisimova to deny an all-American quarterfinal clash at the Miami Open.
Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion, has faced the Swiss player six times, leading their head-to-head tally 4-2. Five of these six meetings have come on hard surfaces, and one on clay.
Last year, the duo met four times, as Gauff defeated Bencic at the Australian Open, Madrid Open, and Beijing Open, while the Swiss claimed victory at Indian Wells.
On paper, the reigning French Open champion looks the favorite to advance to the semifinals of the Miami Open. Still, it could be a close contest, as Gauff has played three-setters in all rounds so far and has lacked clinical finishing. Bencic has yet to drop a set in the ongoing WTA 1000 tournament.
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