'Not As Bad As It Seems': Gauff Hits Out At 'Slump' Narrative After Indian Wells Loss
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Coco Gauff exited yet another tournament way before the trophies were distributed, but she doesn't feel like this has been an unsuccessful period for her.
Gauff was arguably the best player in the world for a certain period at the end of the last season and at the start of this year. The American player won the China Open in Beijing, she also won the WTA Finals and started this year on a nine-match winning streak, which included winning the United Cup.
The 2023 US Open champion's first loss came in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open to Paula Badosa. Since then, Gauff has struggled to get back to her peak form.
She lost in her first match in Doha as well as Dubai and lost in her third match at Indian Wells. It's been a challenging period for Gauff, but she's far from demotivated.
When asked whether she felt like she was in a kind of slump recently, Gauff pushed back on the narrative, saying that her results haven't been soon bad.
"I mean, overall I feel like, I mean, it's not as bad as it seems, I guess. I mean, start of the year, I did well at United Cup and lost to Paula fourth round in Australia [Ed.: She reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open]. Middle East wasn't a great swing for me. Here, I mean, I lost 6-4 in the third in the fourth round against a tough opponent who's coming off a 500 win."
"Obviously I wanted to do better, want to have better results, but it's not something I can crush myself on. I'm trying to do better, and that's all I can do. I'm trying to work on things in practice, and unfortunately right now it's not translating how I'd like to."
For Gauff, the loss in Indian Wells was maybe a bit more painful than any loss would have been. She turned 21 the day after losing to Bencic, which means that she didn't have a chance to celebrate her birthday while competing at the event.
Now 21-year-old American was asked if something would change for her by officially becoming an adult in the United States, but she doesn't feel like the age means something.
"Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't know if I'm going to feel any different. But I think it's an exciting age to turn. Usually I don't really care, I guess, when my birthday is, but I am excited, and obviously I would have loved to be out here tomorrow. But I'm going to try to either get home tonight or tomorrow just to celebrate with my family."
Gauff will now focus on delivering a good result at the 2025 Miami Open to further push back the "slump" narrative. She will be the third seed in Miami as well, as no one can overtake her in the WTA Rankings despite her loss.
