Coco Gauff’s US Open run got here to an finish on Monday afternoon in Flushing Meadows because the 21-year-old fell to Naomi Osaka in fourth-round motion inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was a match that failed to satisfy expectations, as Gauff hit 33 unforced errors and by no means noticed a break level. Gauff admitted afterwards that her efficiency fell in need of her expectations.
“It’s disappointing. For positive it was not the extent that I wished to carry, however it’s a step in the suitable course I really feel, and I feel emotionally how a lot this week was, I feel at present I simply stepped in, and I perhaps was just a little bit empty,” Gauff mentioned. “She pressured me to earn each level on the market at present.”
Regardless of the sting of defeat, Gauff stays clear-eyed about her journey. She acknowledged the problem of navigating the summer time hard-court swing whereas striving to treatment deficiencies in her serve, and spoke candidly concerning the strain she feels to succeed at a younger age.
“I don’t know. I feel at present after I walked on the courtroom — and, I don’t know, I really feel like I put a lot strain on myself at my age at 21, and I understand how a lot the ladies on tour are being profitable at 25, 26, at these ages,” she mentioned. “For me it simply will get me excited to understand if I’ve 4 extra years of simply working as exhausting as I’m proper now and really doing the suitable issues, like the place my sport could possibly be.”
Gauff has nothing to be ashamed of—she has already captured two of the final 9 majors and stays one of many brightest younger stars in tennis. Moderately than resting on her laurels, she is dedicated to refining her sport, significantly her serve, by continued work with biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan.
“It’s been a tricky post-French Open for me,” Gauff mentioned. “I do know the enhancements that I must make, and I really feel like I’m making the suitable choice by making them.”
She says she plans to take the deal with the remainder of the season as a warmup for the 2026 Australian Open, focusing little on outcomes and primarily on persevering with to develop her serve. ]
“I feel there’s quite a lot of positives to take from this event, and I’m making an attempt to be optimistic in entrance of you guys,” she mentioned. “I promise you that I don’t really feel that means proper now, however I’m not going to let this crush me.
“I look ahead to the longer term and making extra enhancements. Yeah, hopefully subsequent yr I can develop lots as a participant and as an individual.”
