Coco Gauff Makes a Curious Confession About Overcoming her Wimbledon First Round Exit

Second seed Coco Gauff suffered a straight-set opening round defeat at Wimbledon.

Coco Gauff Makes a Curious Confession About Overcoming her Wimbledon First Round Exit

Coco Gauff (Image via X/Coco Gauff News)

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After a brilliant clay season, where Coco Gauff reached her only three finals this season and won one of them at Roland Garros, the 21-year-old will be looking to rediscover that momentum in the North American hard-court swing. Her grass swing has been disappointing with opening round exits in Berlin and Wimbledon.

With the opening round exits of second seed Gauff and third seed Jessica Pegula, this marked the first time in the Open Era that two of the top three women’s seeds lost in the first round of a Grand Slam. Speaking in the press conference in Cincinnati about this straight-set opening round defeat, Gauff commented:

I’m someone who goes full throttle, so I was very disappointed after that match. I told my parents that tennis is tough because you can experience an incredible high and then feel completely empty two weeks later. After the defeat, I turned off my phone and spent three days at the Florida springs, just to connect with nature and reset completely…

She commenced her summer hard court swing at the Canadian Open as the top seed. However, her run in singles was short-lived ending with a straight-set victory to eventual champion Victoria Mboko in the fourth round.

Gauff caught headlines for her erroneous performance here consisting of 52 double faults spread over three matches. In Cincinnati, Gauff will commence her campaign against either Emiliana Arango or Xin Wang. She triumphed in this tournament two years ago, where she defeated Karolina Muchova in straight sets in the final.

Coco Gauff won the Montreal doubles title with McCartney Kessler

Although Coco Gauff lost early in singles at the Canadian Open, she had a spectacular run in doubles, winning the tournament paired with compatriot McCartney Kessler. This marks Gauff’s 10th doubles title and her first partnering with Kessler.

Coco Gauff McCartney Kessler Canadian Open 2025 doubles
Coco Gauff McCartney Kessler (images via WTA)

The American duo won a total of five matches and impressively overcame No. 3 seeds Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai 6-4, 1-6, 13-11 in the final in Montreal. For Kessler, it marked her maiden WTA doubles title. In the press conference, Gauff also opened up on what helped her transition from Montreal to Cincinnati given the overlapping nature of both the WTA 1000 tournaments this year:

In Montreal, I didn’t do well in singles, so I don’t feel so tired. I am curious to see how those players who have reached far in Montreal do here because the tournaments overlap. Having both tournaments coincide is tough for all players, especially if you look at the doubles.

For Gauff, this was her third doubles tournament of the season. She partnered with Robin Montgomery at the Madrid Open and with Alexandra Eala at the Italian Open. Gauff’s biggest title in doubles came last year at the Roland Garros, where she triumphed alongside Katerina Siniakova.

Also Read: Naomi Osaka Faces Criticism from Fans for Not Congratulating Victoria Mboko After Canadian Open Defeat – “Very Uncool”