Coco Gauff Reveals Why She Doesn’t Care About Defending the WTA 1000 Title in Beijing

Coco Gauff will be the second seed at the China Open after Aryna Sabalenka withdrew from the event due to injury.

Coco Gauff Reveals Why She Doesn’t Care About Defending the WTA 1000 Title in Beijing

Coco Gauff (Image via X/Coco Gauff Fans)

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Coco Gauff has revealed that she’s not concerned about defending the China Open as she gets back to the court following the US Open. The former World No.2 was under immense pressure during the US Open as she tried working on her serve but failed to reach the final eight of the Grand Slam tournament.

After failing to defend the 2024 US Open, the American star began to play with more purpose on the court, and that helped her beat Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open last year. She went on to reach the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

But at the WTA Finals, she bounced back, winning the title for the first time in her career after beating Qinwen Zheng. However, this season, she has struggled with her serves, and that led her to part ways with Matt Daly before the New York Grand Slam, hiring Sabalenka’s former biomechanical coach, Gavin MacMillan.

Unfortunately, the quick change didn’t reflect in Gauff’s result on the court as she lost to Naomi Osaka in the fourth round of the US Open. It was her second defeat in five Grand Slam matches since winning the French Open in June. It also highlighted the fact that she has not reached the semi-finals of a tournament since the clay-court season.

Ahead of the China Open, Gauff has made up her mind not to set her goal at winning the ultimate prize. The 21-year-old revealed during her press conference at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing that she doesn’t care to carry the weight of being the defending champion during the event:

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean, for me, I don’t know why, it just feels different at the end of the year. Although I’m technically the defending champion, it doesn’t feel that way at all. I don’t want to say ‘not care’ because obviously I’m not playing a tournament and trying to lose or anything. But yeah, there is definitely a weight that you kind of just don’t care in a way, especially when you’ve had like a good moment of the season.

Sabalenka will not compete at the China Open after she withdrew from the tournament due to a slight injury. The US Open champion would have been the top seed at the tournament, but that will now fall on Iga Swiatek, who recently claimed her third title of the season after beating Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final of the Korean Open in Seoul.

Coco Gauff says winning the French Open has made her feel relaxed on tour

Coco Gauff reached her best form of the season during the clay court season. The World No.3 reached the final of the Madrid Open but lost the title to Aryna Sabalenka. In the next tournament, she reached the final in Rome but also lost to Jasmine Paolini. It was at the French Open that she finally claimed her only title this season and her second Grand Slam.

Coco Gauff Canadian Open 2025
Coco Gauff (image via Jimmie48 Photography)

During the aforementioned press conference, she revealed that the French Open victory over Sabalenka in June has made her more relaxed this season. The two-time Grand Slam winner added that she feels that the China Open is a practice tournament:

I think winning the French Open helped me take that weight off less. I think last year I did care, but maybe I felt a little bit like I had to do something, because I hadn’t won a big title at that point, at that time of the year yet. I don’t know how I feel right now. I definitely feel a lot lighter. It feels, again, like a practice tournament. So we’ll see how it goes.

After winning the Roland, Gauff failed to win a singles grass-court match. She lost in her opening match at the Berlin Tennis Open and later fell to Dayana Yastremska in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships.

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