Coco Gauff hit four consecutive double faults in her match against Iga Swiatek at the 2023 WTA Finals, and it cost her the match.
The 19-year-old American is one of the biggest talents the sport has ever seen, but as every player, she's developing and learning every day, and at the 2023 WTA Finals, she certainly learned a lot about the mental side of the game.
After crushing Ons Jabeur in her opening match at the year-end tournament in Cancun, the teenager met the world no. 2, Iga Swiatek. Although the Pole dominated this matchup before, Gauff recently showed that she could beat her, and she wanted to show that again.
However, in the opening set, Swiatek showed why she's "one of the best players of her generation," and didn't allow her opponent to do anything, beating her comfortably 6-0.
But Gauff never gave up, like she never does. She showed her qualities in the second set, breaking the Pole's serve and leading 3-1. On top of that, she got close to another break, leading 30-0 on her opponent's serve, but Swiatek managed to win four consecutive points from there.
The second seed then also managed to break back, leveling the score at four games each, but Gauff, who recently split with coach Pere Riba, broke the Polish player's serve once again, leading 5-4.
The American served for the second set for the first time at 5-4, and she started extraordinarily, with a beautiful volley that earned her the first point, 15-0.
But what followed after that was a clear disaster. Gauff hit a double fault, and another one. After hitting two straight double faults, she was already down 15-30, and looked really dejected by what happened.
Yet, she hit one more double fault, and it was clear that she lost almost all of the confidence in her serve, and so what followed, wasn't even that shocking, as Gauff hit the fourth consecutive double fault, practically giving her opponent the game for free.
After that, Gauff never recovered, losing all the remaining games, and eventually also losing the match to Swiatek, who recorded her second win at the 2023 WTA Finals, and is now almost guaranteed to play in the semifinals.
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