Coco Gauff Resets Her Expectations and Approach Heading into the Madrid Open

Coco Gauff reached the final of the Madrid Open last year, but she's yet to beat a top 10 player this season.

Coco Gauff Resets Her Expectations and Approach Heading into the Madrid Open

Coco Gauff (Image via X/Coco Gauff)

In Short
  • Coco Gauff enters the Madrid Open ranked World No.4, needing to defend over 2,000 points from last season.
  • She has a 17-7 win-loss record this season and has struggled with unforced errors, particularly in recent matches.
  • Gauff aims to improve her performance as the season progresses, historically finding her best form later in the year.

Coco Gauff has dismissed the idea that she’s under pressure despite entering one of the most demanding phases of her season. The American star reached three clay-court tour-level finals last season, including the French Open, which means she will be defending more than 2,000 points during this clay season.

Gauff is yet to claim her first title of the season. However, the American star had one of her best clay-court seasons last year. She finished as runner-up at the Madrid Open and Italian Open, losing to Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini. After that, she claimed her second Grand Slam at Roland Garros.

Her results last year on clay leave little margin for error on the court this period, as an early loss could see her drop out of the top 5. She’s currently ranked World No.4, having lost the No.3 position to Iga Swiatek, who reclaimed the position after the Stuttgart Open last week. She reached the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open before losing to Karolina Muchova in three sets.

She enters the Madrid Open with a 17-7 win-loss record on tour, which is far below her standards in the previous season. She has been to only one tournament final in 2026 and has struggled with her serves on the court. For instance, during her loss to Muchova in Stuttgart, she sprayed 16 unforced errors, 13 of them coming in the first set alone.

The result highlighted that Gauff is yet to fully transition from the hard court to the European clay swing. During an interview with Tennis Legends, Gauff admitted that she doesn’t want to think about how well she performed on clay last year, instead, she’s focused on strengthening her game plan on the red dirt this season:

It’s like a new year so it’s like anything can happen honestly. I don’t think about last year because I didn’t feel like I was playing great, I felt like I was playing great tennis but I feel better on court this year honestly so I’m just knowing that I’m doing the right things on the court and even though the results may not come right away that they will when it matters so yeah.

Gauff has shown over the years that she can compete with the top players on clay. She defeated Iga Swiatek at the 2025 Madrid Open semi-finals and also beat Sabalenka at the 2025 French Open final. However, she has not been at her best lately against a top 10 player on tour. All her match-ups against top 10 players have ended in defeats, including her loss to Elina Svitolina in Dubai.

Coco Gauff downplays her poor start to the 2026 season on tour

Coco Gauff not winning a title at this time of year is not new. The American star is known to get to her best form as the season progresses. In fact, most of her wins on tour in the past three seasons have come from August to November. Last season, she claimed her first title of the year in June at the Roland Garros.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via X/Game, Set & Talk)

However, critics have argued that she’s not at her best confidence on the court and has become very unpredictable in terms of her performances. During the aforementioned interview, Gauff downplayed the issue, stressing that she normally doesn’t start the season well but will try to change that from 2027:

I think I’ve only started at Auckland when I’ve started the year with a title but I think typically I don’t start my season with the title. It usually comes around this time so I would love to change that next year. I tried to change that this year. I was one match short but I don’t know, I think it’s been each tournament has consistently been better than the last like compared to last year with my results so I guess that’s progress.

Gauff will open her account at the Madrid Open against Oksana Selekhmeteva or a qualifier in the second round, followed by a possible third-round clash against Sorana Cîrstea. She’s projected to face either Jessica Pegula or tennis sensation Victoria Mboko in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

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