'Gave Up Two Points': Self-Critical Gauff Shows Mental Strength In Beijing

Coco Gauff turned the page at the 2024 China Open in Beijing, and it seems that a positive mindset is a part of that.

The young American didn't have a very successful summer. She couldn't defend either of her three titles won last year, as she couldn't play in Washington because of the Olympics, lost in Cincinnati and also at the US Open.

As a result, she also dropped in the WTA Rankings and made some changes in her team. The 20-year-old parted ways with coach Brad Gilbert and started working with a new coach, Matt Dally.

So far, Dally has a 100% win rate with the 2023 US Open winner, as she managed to win both of her matches at the WTA 1000 event in Beijing so far. In the first round, Gauff outplayed Clara Burel in straight sets.

After that, she had to take on Katie Boulter, who was a bit more challenging opponent for her. It seemed like Gauff was in control of the match, but the British player proved her qualities late in the first set.

She came back from 2-5 down to make it 5-5, and it seemed that she could even steal a set from the favorite. However, Gauff was able to deal with that disappointment very quickly, which helped her to win the match so easily.

After losing her serve when serving for the set, the World No. 6 was able to regroup almost immediately and she broke her opponent's serve in the 12th game of the first set.

Boulter couldn't come back as it meant that she lost the opening set 5-7. Gauff also won eight of the ten games played from 5-5 in the opening set, so eventually, it was a relatively easy win for her.

After the match, she spoke about how forgetting the disappointment of not being able to serve out the opening set was crucial in being able to win the match, and especially that first set.

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Overall, Gauff was happy with her performance. She had a clear game plan and she was able to execute it relatively well to win the match in two sets.

Now, she will focus on her upcoming match. That will be against the winner of the match between Naomi Osaka and Katie Volynets, and already now, the young American player knows that she will have significant advantage in that match.

The match between Osaka and Volynets was supposed to be played on Sunday, the same day as Gauff's match. However, it was postponed to Monday because of rain, and because of that, Gauff will have more time to recover than her opponent.

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