Coco Gauff Reveals Reason Behind Her Shocking 1st Round Defeat at Berlin Open

Coco Gauff's Berlin Open campaign ended after a straight-set defeat to China's Wang Xinyu in the second round.

Coco Gauff Reveals Reason Behind Her Shocking 1st Round Defeat at Berlin Open

Coco Gauff (image via Instagram @WTA)

Coco Gauff ended her first grass-court tournament of the year without winning a match. In the ongoing Berlin Open, Gauff was no match for Wang Xinyu, who knocked her out with a 6-3, 6-3 scoreline in the second round.

It was Gauff’s first tournament since her successful run at the French Open. The 21-year-old came from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka and take home her second Grand Slam singles title and also improve her head-to-head record over the Belarusian to 6-5, denying her success in Major for the second time after the 2023 US Open.

Since Gauff lost in her opening round, she will be entering Wimbledon without enough match practice on the surface. She later admitted that she struggled to adapt to grass after the clay swing.

Tried my best to adjust with the quick turnaround but it wasn’t enough. as always, I’m learning as I go so I hope to do better next time. Thank you berlin for the short but sweet visit, I’ll come back stronger next year and I wish I could give this kit some more screen time as it’s definitely one of my favs but I’m excited to get some more practices in to be ready for Wimbledon.

Coco Gauff wrote on X

Check out her post here:

On the clay swing, except for the Stuttgart Open, Gauff reached the finals of every tournament she played on the surface, losing in Madrid and Rome to Sabalenka and home favorite Jasmine Paolini, respectively. The French Open was Gauff’s first title since last year’s WTA Finals.

At Wimbledon, the American ace has never advanced to the quarterfinals and thrice she made the round of 16 (2019, 2021, and 2024). Last year, her campaign in the grass-court Major was ended by her compatriot Emma Navarro.

Wang Xinyu reflects on her match against Coco Gauff

Wang Xinyu tied her head-to-head record over Coco Gauff to 1-1 after her win at the Berlin Open. Prior to this clash, they squared off against each other in the 2022 Berlin Open second round which Gauff had won in straight sets.

Coco Gauff (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Coco Gauff (via X/The Tennis Letter)

It was Wang’s third top 10 win of her career following her victory over Jessica Pegula, whom she defeated twice in 2024. During the on-court interview, the 23-year-old shared what she was thinking after winning the first set.

After I won the first set, I told myself, ‘OK, let’s take a minute and enjoy this. I’m playing the French Open champion and I won the first set. No matter how the second and third go, I was like, ‘Let’s enjoy it for once second. I’m really happy with how I played today. I was serving good, and putting a lot of pressure on return, especially second serve return.

Wang then scheduled a quarterfinal clash with eighth seed Paula Badosa but the Spaniard, after losing the first set, handed a walkover to the Chinese ace due to an injury. She will next meet the winner of the quarterfinal match between Amanda Anisimova and Liudmila Samsonova.

Coco Gauff hasn’t yet lifted a title on grass

Gauff was chasing her first grass-court title in Berlin. Last year in the tournament, her campaign was ended by eventual champion Pegula in the semifinals.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

Gauff is the winner of 10 singles trophies, two of which she claimed on clay. At Wimbledon, Gauff will be the second seed; so if she reaches the final, she could once again set up a clash with Sabalenka, who also hasn’t yet tasted success in a grass-court tournament.

At SW19, the three-time singles champion was the semifinalist in 2021 and 2023. But last year, she didn’t participate in the tournament because of an injury she suffered during her Berlin Open quarterfinal match against Anna Kalinskaya.

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