Coco Gauff Blames Carlos Alcaraz After Time Spent in Forbidden City Cut Short Due to His Late Arrival

The China Open is Coco Gauff's first tournament since her US Open fourth-round defeat.

Coco Gauff Blames Carlos Alcaraz After Time Spent in Forbidden City Cut Short Due to His Late Arrival

Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff (Image via X/Tennis TV)

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Last year, both Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff ended the China Open in their favor. Alcaraz stopped Jannik Sinner from defending the title, while Gauff went past Karolina Muchova.

Before the start of their respective campaigns, Alcaraz and Gauff visited the Forbidden City together. Ahead of this year’s China Open, Gauff joked that the time spent in the Forbidden City was cut short because Alcaraz had arrived late. She said during the pre-tournament press conference:

The Forbidden City, I would like to do it again, the full experience. I only did it, like, 25 minutes with Carlos. He came late, so it got cut short. I didn’t do it that much. I think the culture is really cool and very different from anything. Being from a country like the U.S., which is considered way younger than China. I think visiting a country with so much history behind it is really cool, just learning about the different dynasties, how everything is kind of intertwined, which we don’t really have that in the U.S. 

The China Open was the last title the 22-year-old won in 2024. The six-time Grand Slam champion is not in Beijing as he chose not to defend his title. Alcaraz will be making his debut at the Japan Open and will lock horns with Sebastian Baez in his opening round.

He will be chasing his eighth title of the season. Before Tokyo, Alcaraz participated in the Laver Cup but couldn’t guide his team to victory.

Coco Gauff on why her new coach is not in Beijing

Coco Gauff split with coach Brad Gilbert and added biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan just before the US Open. Gauff wanted to fix her serve problems, particularly her double faults. MacMillan previously fixed World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka‘s serve problems, which almost forced her to retire.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via X/Coco Gauff Fans)

MacMillan, however, is not in Beijing to guide the 21-year-old. Gauff, in the pre-tournament press conference, explained the reason behind Macmillan’s absence.

I’m still working with Gavin, but he’s not here because we started last minute, so he had other plans for this part of the year. We’ll be working with each other right when I get home from here. But it was a good learning experience.

Gauff broke into tears twice during and after her US Open second-round match against Donna Vekic. The two-time Grand Slam singles finalist reached the fourth round but fell in straight sets against Naomi Osaka. The China Open is her first tournament since her home Grand Slam event, where in 2023, she beat Sabalenka in the final to clinch her first Major title.

The China Open is a practice tournament for Coco Gauff

Gauff has already clinched a Big Title, so she isn’t feeling any pressure to win the China Open. After losing the Madrid Open and the Italian Open to Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini, respectively, Gauff came from a set down to defeat the Belarusian to win her first singles title at the French Open.

Coco Gauff (via X/Ground Press)
Coco Gauff (via X/Ground Press)

I think last year I did care, but maybe I felt a little bit like I had to do something, because I hadn’t won a big title at that point, at that time of the year yet. I don’t know how I feel right now. I definitely feel a lot lighter. It feels, again, like a practice tournament. So we’ll see how it goes.

Coco Gauff said at the pre-tournament press conference

Before winning the China Open last year, Gauff had lifted only the WTA 250 ASB Classic. After Beijing, Gauff clinched the WTA Finals after a thrilling final against Qinwen Zheng. Following the China Open, Gauff will play the Wuhan Open, where she lost to Sabalenka in the semifinals last year.

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