Former ATP player Mark Petchey recently spoke about Coco Gauff, admitting that he thinks the American won’t be happy with her 2024 season as she had much higher expectations.
Gauff had an incredibly successful 2023 season. While it wasn’t the most spectacular for much of it, she had a really good run in the second half of the year. She won the Citi Open in Washington, which is a WTA 5000 event, the Cincinnati Open, and then also the US Open.
On top of that, the American player had some really decent showings at other times in the year, so overall, it was a huge success. Winning her maiden Grand Slam was the most important achievement because it relieved some of the pressure she was starting to feel.
Gauff was touted as a prodigy for many years, so when success was lacking, plenty of people started to put doubt on her, which created more and more pressure.
The downside of having such a great year is that this year would be one where lots of people would be looking to see if she could replicate that success. After nine months of the season passed, there is a definitive answer: she couldn’t replicate it, not even close, as she failed to defend all of her trophies in North America.
The US Open, in particular, ended on a very sour note, as she didn’t play that well. That’s the biggest issue with Gauff—it’s not so much that she didn’t win the events again, but more so that her play looked as if she had regressed, and that’s not good.
According to former player Mark Petchey, it’s because her play was essentially exposed, and it’s likely that she won’t be happy with the year overall.
"I think Coco will be disappointed with her season. The problem with any success is that it buys you a bigger problem down the road when you don’t live up to the success the next year. But I’m afraid that’s the bar that the biggest stars in the game set themselves."
"However, I think she handles it magnificently. I’m consistently blown away by her maturity in handling this situation for a player so young."
"Coco certainly has some flaws in her game that are going to be found out and exposed against the very best in the game as we have seen this year."
"However, sometimes she’s going to be able to mask them as she did when she won the US Open last year. It is a difficult situation for her, but she will only improve as she gets older and more experienced."
How she responds to this adversity, and to most adversity in general, will determine how well her career goes. Failing is not so much an issue because most people, including athletes, fail a lot, but the way she responds to failing can determine how successful she can be.
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