“It doesn’t feel like a win,” Coco Gauff reflects on bittersweet victory as Ons Jabeur retires mid-match at the Berlin Championships

It was a day of retirements, as Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur handed their opponents walkovers in Berlin.

“It doesn’t feel like a win,” Coco Gauff reflects on bittersweet victory as Ons Jabeur retires mid-match at the Berlin Championships

Ons Jabeur(L), Coco Gauff(R) (Via Imago)

Double blow at the ongoing Berlin Championships as two major withdrawals happened in the quarter-finals. First, it was the World No.3 Aryna Sabalenka who pulled out due to a shoulder injury and now it was Ons Jabeur who was forced to withdraw in her match.

The Tunisian was up against Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals and ohad given a tough fight in the first set. Despite not being in her best form, Jabeur challenged the American for every game and pushed the first set to the tie-break, where she eventually lost 7-6(9).

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Jabeur was struggling with the whole match due to illness and could not keep up by the end of the first set, forcing her to retire from the match. With that, Gauff moved into the semi-finals of Berlin did not leave the court without acknowledging her opponent.

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It doesn’t feel like a win. Especially because we had such a great first set. I wish Ons the best. I think it’s something that’s just gonna happen today and she’ll feel better tomorrow. I think she’ll be strong at Wimbledon.
Coco Gauff said after the match

She has now begun playing her doubles partner Jessica Pegula for a spot in the finals. In another exciting match, it was Pegula who took the first set, and with the second set at 6-6, the play was suspended.

Coco Gauff to lead her country at the Paris Olympics after missing the Tokyo edition

American pro-Coco Gauff is set to lead Team USA at the Paris Olympics. After climbing through the rankings, she has finally surpassed Pegula to become American No.1 and recently overtook Aryna Sabalenka to become the World No.2. 

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Via Imago)

Unfortunately, she missed the Tokyo Olympics due to Covid 19 and would look to bounce back this year and win her country an all-important gold medal. Joining her in the team would be the likes of Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, and Emma Navarro as the three women. 

Recently, Gauff had been trying out with different doubles partners in the absence of Pegula and recently won a doubles title in the French Open with Katerina Siniakova. Now that, her American doubles partner is back, Gauff would hope to get back to her original tuning and carry that to the Olympics. 

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