Coco Gauff Wants to Forget About Roland Garros Triumph to Avoid Repeating Mistakes

Coco Gauff will start her bid for her first grass-court title at the Berlin Open against Daria Kasatkina or Wang Xinyu.

Coco Gauff Wants to Forget About Roland Garros Triumph to Avoid Repeating Mistakes

Coco Gauff (Image via Roland Garros)

Now that Coco Gauff fulfilled her Roland Garros goal, she doesn’t want this victory to change her mindset going into Wimbledon. She wants to forget about winning a Grand Slam title just to avoid dropping her motivation level for the rest of the season.

The 21-year-old had an inconsistent start to the season as, after losing in the Australian Open quarterfinals, she produced mediocre performances in the five tournaments she played next. Gauff then reached the Madrid Open final only to lose to Aryna Sabalenka.

She carried the form to the Italian Open and progressed to the final. But her first title of the season still eluded her as home favorite Jasmine Paolini beat her. Three weeks later, Gauff ended the clay swing as the Roland Garros champion after a thrilling final against Sabalenka.

I’m kind of trying to forget about winning Roland Garros, honestly. Just to stay motivated. After I won the US Open, I was like, ‘I won the US Open, the season is almost over, I’m pretty happy.’ I don’t want to go into the rest of the season with that mindset, especially since there are two other Grand Slams I can definitely win.

Coco Gauff said on the Nice Talk podcast

The 2023 US Open champion is in Berlin to start her campaign on the grass swing. She has never tasted success on the surface and at Wimbledon, Gauff has never reached the quarterfinals. Thrice she progressed to the fourth round, including last year (lost to compatriot Emma Navarro).

Prior to this season, Gauff had made the French Open final back in 2022 but lost it to now four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek. Last year, the American, along with Katerina Siniakova, lifted the French Open doubles title by beating Italian pair Paolini and Sara Errani.

Patrick Mouratoglou lauds Coco Gauff for handling her emotions better than Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka raced to 4-1 in the first set but ended up squandering the lead as Coco Gauff made an impressive comeback to force a tie-breaker. Although Gauff lost it, she stayed calm and composed throughout the match, while Sabalenka started to scream and shout at her box.

Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka (3)
Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/Complex, Univers Tennis)

The World No. 1 ended up committing 70 unforced errors to Gauff’s 30. Sabalenka, before her Berlin Open campaign, expressed her regret for her controversial remarks on Gauff while also admitting that she lost many finals because of not handling her emotions. According to Serena Williams‘ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou, emotions play a huge role and the inability to control them can cost players matches. He said on Instagram:

Being able to do with your emotions is part of what makes you victorious or not. Coco was 10 times better than Sabalenka at dealing with her emotions. And fighting spirit, it’s another level. I don’t see anyone like her, not one. At some point, Aryna did not want to miss any more. She started to slow down and when she slowed down, Coco stepped in, and boom.

Gauff, who is now 6-5 in the head-to-head meetings against the Belarusian, could meet Sabalenka again if they reach the Berlin Open final. Gauff will play the winner of the first-round match between Daria Kasatkina and Wang Xinyu, while Sabalenka will start her campaign against Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova.

Sabalenka too will chase her first grass-court title in Berlin. At Wimbledon, she was the semifinalist in 2021 and 2023 but skipped the grass-court Major last year due to an injury. The 27-year-old, who has reached seven finals this season, will be chasing her fourth title following her victories in Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid.

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