Coco Gauff lost to Caroline Garcia at the 2024 Miami Open, but she didn't want to talk excuses after the loss.
There are a few things that went wrong for Gauff in her most recent loss. It was a three-set match that featured a really solid 6-1 set for the American, which she couldn't follow up on in the final set.
Garcia did a few things right to win this match, and that's to serve well and play pretty solidly from the baseline. When the match was being decided in the final set, the Frenchwoman could serve really well, something Gauff couldn't emulate.
Garcia also hit some really impressive forehands, something the 20-year-old also couldn't emulate. The American didn't want to really find excuses after the match, certainly not blame her serve for it.
"Yeah, I definitely think I can. This is a tough loss. I do think one positive is the serve. You know, I got broken a lot today. I don't think it was because of my serving."
Gauff improved with the double faults after previously struggling with those, but she couldn't put a lot of pressure on Garcia with her serve. It's similar to her forehand; they are good shots but not good enough for the level she's at. It's truly what she lacks in her game to become the dominant force in tennis because she has everything else.
"I went from hitting 17 double faults in Indian Wells to I think only, like, two or three today. So I think that's something that can continue to improve, but it did in a short amount of time."
She talked about addressing her forehand last year but didn't seem to do that this year. It's a bit more stable but still not the deadly shot that a player who aspires to be the best in the world should have.
The loss to Garcia demonstrated the difference between a signature serve + forehand combo against a weaker one.