Coco Gauff Admits Tight Schedule Can Force Her to Skip ‘This’ Important Event in Future

Coco Gauff suffered an opening-round exit in Doha and lost to Elina Svitolina in the semifinals in Dubai.

Coco Gauff Admits Tight Schedule Can Force Her to Skip ‘This’ Important Event in Future

Coco Gauff (Image via X/Coco Gauff)

In Short
  • Coco Gauff is considering skipping the Doha event in future seasons due to a tight schedule.
  • Gauff has previously missed the Doha and Dubai events.
  • World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka and World No.2 Iga Swiatek withdrew from the Middle East WTA 1000 events, causing frustration for tournament organizers.

While several top players, after making a deep run in the Australian Open, choose to skip either the Qatar Open or the Dubai Tennis Championships, and sometimes, both, Coco Gauff has signed up for the two WTA 1000 events almost every season.

Since playing her first maiden WTA 1000 event in the Middle East Swing in Dubai back in 2021, Gauff skipped the event in 2022 and the following season, did not feature in the Doha event. Because of the tight schedule, the World No.4 is contemplating skipping the Doha event in the future.

Perhaps in the future I’ll skip Doha. I love Doha, but I’ve never played well there. I think the season is very tight, and having a Grand Slam and then, a week later, two consecutive WTA 1000s… I know some people live in Dubai, but especially for American players, it’s a very long trip. I don’t regret it, though, because it’s already happened. I’ve done it before and had success later in the season. Yes, it’s something I would definitely consider in the future. I think the last tournament in Dubai was just a coincidence, bad luck for the tournament with all the injuries and player withdrawals.

Coco Gauff said at the pre-tournament press conference at Indian Wells

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, following her runner-up finish at the Australian Open, withdrew from the WTA 1000 events in the Middle East. World No.2 Iga Swiatek, after her defeat to Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals in Doha, pulled out of the Dubai event. Dubai tennis director Salah Tahlak was left fuming due to Swiatek and Sabalenka’s withdrawals and urged the WTA to deduct ranking points from them.

Coco Gauff shares her feelings about her frequent hair makeovers

Coco Gauff loves to experiment with her hair. Prior to starting her campaign for the 2026 season, she changed her hair color to ginger. At the pre-tournament press conference, Gauff made her feelings known on why she loves to change her hairstyle.

Coco Gauff (via X/Tennis Channel)
Coco Gauff (via X/Tennis Channel)

That’s a good question. I do like changing my hairstyle. I’m not someone who sticks to a specific look; sometimes I just grab the scissors and cut it, but especially with natural hair, it’s difficult. I always said when I was younger, seeing the Williams sisters [Serena Williams and Venus Williams] change their blonde braids or plaits or curly hair, I wanted to have that style to show girls, especially Black girls with natural hair, that you can compete at your best and still rock those styles. I think it’s important; I’m proud of my hair.

But Gauff also admitted that it’s not easy to take care of her hair, especially when she is not in Europe and the US, because of the unavailability of certain hair products.

At Indian Wells, Gauff will be bidding to win the title for the first time. She has so far featured in just one semifinal in the third WTA 1000 of the season, losing to eventual runner-up Maria Sakkari in the semifinals in 2024. Last year, her run was ended by Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.

She will kick off her Sunshine Doubles campaign against Kamilla Rakhimova. The two-time Grand Slam champion has yet to win a title since the 2025 Wuhan Open.

Last year, Gauff made four finals, winning two titles. Apart from clinching her third WTA 1000 title in Wuhan, the 21-year-old lifted her second Grand Slam singles title by defeating World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open. She made two more finals, at the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, losing both to Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini, respectively.

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