Coco Gauff Reveals Reason for Not Finding Her Good Level During the Hard Court Season So Far

Top seed Coco Gauff committed a staggering 42 double faults across three matches at the Canadian Open.

Coco Gauff Reveals Reason for Not Finding Her Good Level During the Hard Court Season So Far

Coco Gauff (image via Getty)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Since her Roland Garros victory in June, Coco Gauff is yet to regain her winning form that took her to three consecutive finals in the clay swing. The 21-year-old faced an opening round exit in her next two tournaments in Berlin and Wimbledon before commencing her North American hard court swing.

Gauff’s first two rounds at the Canadian Open saw her commit a staggering 37 double faults in total. Though the top seed committed just five double faults in her fourth-round match against wildcard Victoria Mboko, those second serves hurt Gauff. She made 24 unforced errors in one hour and 22 minutes.

Mboko played exceptionally, without being broken at all throughout the match to seal the victory with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-4. With this upset over Gauff, the Canadian has reached her first ever WTA quarterfinal. Speaking about where she had gone wrong, the two-time Grand Slam champion addressed the press in Montreal:

I was playing well in training these past few weeks, just practicing. I decided to take a break and not play in Washington to focus on this tournament, and maybe it wasn’t the right decision. Maybe it was better to play more matches. It’s the first hard court tournament of the season, so I hope to find that rhythm in Cincinnati and New York.

Mboko, who began the season at World No. 333, came into Montreal at No. 85. The victory over Gauff sends her to No. 53 in the live WTA rankings. The 18-year-old has now tied the head-to-head record over Gauff to 1-1. They met earlier this year in the second round of the Italian Open, where Mboko pushed the American to three sets.

Home hope Mboko will now face Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the quarterfinal of the Canadian Open, while Gauff will be gearing up for a comeback in her home tournaments in Cincinnati and the US Open, where she reigned champion in 2023. Maneiro has defeated Louisa Chirico, Ashlyn Krueger, Aoi Ito, and Zhu Lin in her previous rounds in Montreal. This marks the Spaniard’s first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

Coco Gauff could lose her World No.2 ranking to Iga Swiatek

Coco Gauff‘s ranking is at a precarious position following her streak of poor performances after the Roland Garros. She regained her career-high ranking of World No. 2 after making it to the final of the Italian Open; however, she might be on the verge of dropping down if World No. 3 Iga Swiatek wins the Canadian Open.

At present, Gauff has 7789 points on the live WTA rankings, while Swiatek has 6933 points. Gauff did not lose or gain any points after her Montreal exit, however, the Pole stands a chance to reach 7813 points if she clinches the Canadian Open title eventually toppling Gauff from the World No. 2 rank.

Swiatek has so far had a comfortable run in Montreal, cruising past Hanyu Guo and Eva Lys in straight sets in her previous rounds. This marks Swiatek’s first tournament since clinching her sixth Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last month. The 24-year-old will be aiming for her maiden Canadian Open title and her 13th WTA 1000 title.

Iga Swiatek (2)
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Jimmie48 Photography)

In her next round in Montreal, Swiatek will face Clara Tauson, over whom she has a 2-0 head-to-head record. The winner of this match will play reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the quarterfinal. Keys has reached the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open for the second time in her career after 2016.

Also Read: Iga Swiatek Lambasts Polish Media for ‘Ridiculous’ Reporting in the Past After Reaching the Fourth Round of the Canadian Open