Coco Gauff Admits Winning the French Open Gave her “More Calmness” for the Rest of the Season

Coco Gauff will face Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open.

Coco Gauff Admits Winning the French Open Gave her “More Calmness” for the Rest of the Season

Coco Gauff (via X/Ground Press)

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Coco Gauff has revealed that winning the French Open brought tranquility to her game this season. The American star claimed her second Grand Slam of the season in June, more than one and a half years after claiming her first at the 2023 US Open. She defeated World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka to win the title at Roland Garros.

However, before Gauff won the French Open, she struggled to reach any Grand Slam final after the 2023 US Open. Last year, she won only two titles, which came in the second half of the season after a poor start. This season, she was without a title until June, despite reaching the final of the Madrid and Italian Open.

After lifting her second major, the World No.1 lost two consecutive matches and ended the grass-court season without winning a tie. She later broke her winless streak at the Canadian Open after beating Danielle Collins in the second round, but only won one other match before Victoria Mboko knocked her out of the WTA 1000 tournament.

She’s into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open for the first time since winning it in 2023. Gauff revealed during her press conference that her French Open triumph allows her to approach the rest of the season with more calmness. The 21-year-old added that winning a Grand Slam means this season cannot be labeled poor by any standard:

I’m in a similar situation to when I won the US Open; I maintain that balance on and off the court. Winning a Grand Slam allows you to approach the rest of the season with more calmness; no one can say it’s been a bad year for you. However, it wasn’t always like this for me, as fans expect you to win every week, but it’s not easy when you compete in an eleven-month calendar. It’s just as common to have 3-4 good weeks in a row as it is to have 3-4 bad weeks.

Gauff booked her place in the last eight of the Cincinnati Open after ending Lucia Bronzetti’s run in the tournament. The Italian star had stunned Jelena Ostapenko and Daria Kasatkina before facing the American in the fourth round. Gauff showed class in the match beating Bronzetti 6-2, 6-4 in just over an hour on the court.

Nonetheless, Gauff had enjoyed a four-day break away from competitive matches as her third-round opponent, Dayana Yastremska, withdrew a day before their clash. That gave the 21-year-old more time to practice and get refreshed before her clash against Bronzetti in the fourth round.

Jasmine Paolini hopes to beat Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open

Coco Gauff will face Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open. The clash will be a rematch of the Italian Open final, where Paolini defeated the World No.2 in straight sets. Their head-to-head record stands at 2-2, but the Italian star has won their last two meetings, all coming during the clay season.

Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini (via X/The Tennis Letter)

Gauff won their first two meetings on the hard courts, which means she’s more likely to beat Paolini in Cincinnati. The Italian star revealed during her post-match conference that she hopes to imitate to display her clay-court style against Gauff at Cincinnati:

I don’t know. Maybe I should play like I play on a clay court. It’s tough to play here. It’s so different here, so fast, so yeah, a couple of years ago, I won five games, so I hope to do better. She’s a great player, great personality, great person as well. We’ll try to have a good match, a quality match, and we’ll see, you know, it’s always nice to play against a champion like Coco.

Paolini earned her spot in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open after beating Barbora Krejcikova 6-1, 6-2. Her easy win was because the former Wimbledon champion struggled with a left foot injury throughout the match.

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