Coco Gauff suffered a heartbreaking loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals of the Wuhan Open, soon after she was crowned the champion in Beijing earlier this month. The American’s defeat came after a number of double faults in the match and ended her nine-match winning streak.
Following the loss, the World No.3 shared in her post-match conference that she is eager to go home. Soon after, she took to Instagram to share some details regarding her schedule for the rest of the year. In her Instagram story, she wrote:
“Last night here in China after four weeks. Had a great time, thanks for the warm welcome and support during this swing…only one more tournament left for the season @wtafinalsriyadh .”
This means that Gauff is unlikely to participate in any more tournaments including Tokyo and Ningbo after Wuhan and will straightaway be seen in action in Riyadh in the first week of November, unless something changes.In the WTA finals, the American will be joined by Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, and Jessica Pegula, in addition to World No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.2 Aryna Sabalenka for the event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 – 9 November.
Coco Gauff’s 2024 schedule after Wuhan
Coco Gauff won her second title of the season at the China Open earlier this month but her joy was short-lived as she was defeated by World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals of the Wuhan Open.Coco Gauff after winning the 2024 China Open
Coco Gauff after winning the 2024 China Open
After the defeat, in her post-match conference, Gauff hinted at her qualification for the WTA Finals. This was before the official announcements for the Finals, which happened this week. She said (via WTA):
“If you look it up online, there’s a checkmark by my name. They told me not to say anything, sorry. But it’s by my name.”
She also spoke about getting in some rest after Wuhan and wanting to visit home before her next tournament (via Tennis World USA):
“I think I’m going to go home just because it’s been long. I think I’ve been here, like, four weeks. Two weeks is kind of when we have to leave for Riyadh.”
This need for rest, as she shared, would explain her absence from the other tournaments of the Asian swing before her third consecutive WTA finals appearance.
Coco Gauff’s serving fiasco at the Wuhan Open
Coco Gauff made a record 21 double faults against the defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and her 6-1, 4-6. 4-6 loss was largely attributable to this serving fiasco which denied her the opportunity to capitalize on her one-set lead. The number of double faults she made is the most by any WTA player in the main draw.
This came after she had 18 double faults against Emma Navarro at the US Open, which prompted her to work on her serve with new coach Matt Daly.Describing her attempts at trying something new, she said:
“New things. Yeah, working on a new thing. It’s expected. I only had really a week to learn it, then I went to Beijing. I knew it wasn’t going to be great. I’m honestly surprised at how well I was able to do with it. We weren’t expecting it.
“So yeah, I mean, overall it’s growing pains, ups and downs. Like, vice versa to Beijing. I had a day in between every day to work on it, whereas here it was kind of back-to-back. I think it was progressively just becoming harder because I got used to getting those reps in between the matches in Beijing.”
Her opponent, World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka empathized with the American and opined that once the latter overcomes this issue with her serve, she is likely to be one of the “greatest” tennis players. She said:
“I was playing that match thinking, like, ‘Well, girl, I feel you. I feel you like nobody else.’ I know what she’s going through. This is really difficult. This is really tough. But I know that if she’ll be able to overcome this serve situation, she already one of the best players, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to be one of the greatest players.”
Meanwhile, Gauff said it was not the worst time for her and she tried her best to stay positive. She added that Sabalenka’s words give her confidence, as knowing that other tennis players go through the same helps. Gauff also said she wasn’t worried about the situation as she has found the solution and hoped to have a better performance when she makes her next appearance at the WTA Finals.