Coco Gauff bageled a few players this year, but it wasn't until Saturday in Rome that she was also bageled by her opponent.
Gauff was playing against Jaqueline Cristian at the 2024 Italian Open in Rome, and it was a fascinating match that started incredibly well for the American. She crushed her opponent easily in the opening set, winning it 6-1, but then completely lost the plot in the second set.
Cristian won that set 6-0, and that's one of the rare times that Gauff was bageled. She knows how it feels but it never really happened against a player who isn't considered like a top name on the WTA Tour.
Iga Swiatek did it multiple times, but this bagel was much more surprising. Speaking with the media afterward, Gauff admitted that it could have easily not been a bagel, which is true for most of them. That's why they're so rare.
"Yeah, I think you lose a set 6-0, I mean, the first three games I will say she played well. One or two points, it could have been 2-1. The last three games definitely was on my racquet where I was just making errors. I kind of just, like, brushed it off because I was like, Really, she beat you in three to four games that set, and you gave away three."
One thing that Gauff does in moments like those is to simply accept it. She finds it easier to accept sets like those when she didn't play well, as opposed to sets where she did play well but still lost due to one or two points. She refocused and won the match.
"I think for me, when I lose a set like that, you feel better about it than when you lose a set and you feel like you're playing good and they're just blowing you off the court. I don't like getting bageled, but it's okay (smiling)."