Coco Gauff, the American tennis prodigy with a trophy cabinet already brimming at age 21, delivered a performance for the ages at the 2025 Miami Open, crushing fellow US star Sofia Kenin with a rare and ruthless 6-0, 6-0 “double bagel” victory. The Hard Rock Stadium crowd roared as Gauff, the world No. 3 and a hometown favorite, dismantled her opponent in just 47 minutes, advancing to the third round with a display of precision and power that left no doubt about her dominance. Yet, in a twist that stunned the tennis world, Gauff peeled back the curtain on her psyche post-match, revealing a shocking confession: amidst her relentless onslaught, she had secretly wished to drop a game. This admission, raw and unexpected, transformed a historic triumph into a profound glimpse into the mind of a champion wrestling with her own perfection.
The match itself was a masterclass. Gauff, playing on the familiar hard courts of South Florida where she honed her craft, was untouchable. She won 84 percent of her first-serve points, fended off the lone break point she faced, and converted six of nine break opportunities against Kenin, a former Australian Open champion. The “double bagel”—a scoreline so rare it’s likened to spotting a unicorn in tennis—marked only the second time in Gauff’s career she’d achieved such a feat. For Kenin, it was a humbling defeat, her every move stifled by Gauff’s suffocating defense and pinpoint aggression. The crowd, sensing history, erupted as the final point landed, cementing a moment that seemed to signal Gauff’s resurgence after a rocky start to 2025.
But beneath the surface of this crushing victory lay a turmoil few could have anticipated. In the press room afterward, Gauff’s voice carried a mix of pride and vulnerability as she unpacked her startling revelation. “I didn’t know she was going to play that flat,” she said of Kenin’s tactics, acknowledging the challenge that spurred her to new heights. Then came the bombshell: “At one point, I kind of wanted to lose a game—just to, you know, switch it up a bit.” The admission hung in the air, a jarring contrast to the scoreboard’s tale of perfection. It wasn’t boredom or arrogance, but a fleeting desire to break the monotony of her own dominance, to feel the sting of resistance in a match that offered none. For a player who thrives on competition, the absence of a fight seemed to unsettle her, even as she dictated every rally.
This isn’t the first time Gauff has bared her soul. After a string of early exits in Doha, Dubai, and a round-of-16 loss to Belinda Bencic at Indian Wells, she’d brushed off concerns with a casual defiance: “Sometimes when I don’t do well, people think there’s something personally wrong with me. I’m like, ‘I just lost a couple of matches! I’m chillin’.’” Yet, the Miami Open—a tournament she’s dreamed of winning since childhood—has been a rollercoaster. Days after her Kenin rout, she ousted Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-4, only to falter in the fourth round against Magda Linette, racking up 12 double faults and 45 unforced errors in a 6-4, 6-4 upset. “It wasn’t great today,” she lamented then. “Just one of those days when I felt awful in everything on the court.” The Kenin win, though, stood apart—a beacon of brilliance amid her struggles.
Gauff’s confession peels back the layers of a champion’s mind, revealing the mental tightrope athletes walk. To dominate so thoroughly yet crave a challenge speaks to her competitive fire—and perhaps the pressure of living up to her own lofty standards. Since bursting onto the scene at 15 with a Wimbledon run that toppled Venus Williams, she’s carried the weight of expectation. Her 2023 US Open title and 2024 WTA Finals crown cemented her as a global star, but 2025 has tested her resilience. Losses to lower-ranked foes have fueled doubts, yet her Miami performance—and its accompanying revelation—suggests a player still evolving, still grappling with the paradox of perfection.
As Gauff exited Miami, her sights turned to the clay season, where she’s historically thrived, reaching the French Open final in 2022 and semis in 2024. Stuttgart looms in mid-April, a chance to reset after a hard-court campaign that’s left her searching for answers. “I’m trying to figure that out,” she’s said of her uneven form, a refrain that’s become her mantra this year. But the Miami “double bagel” and her candid admission linger as a testament to her complexity—a young woman who can obliterate opponents, yet yearns for the fight that defines her. In a sport where mental fortitude is as vital as physical prowess, Gauff’s journey remains a captivating saga, one where even victory comes with a twist of human frailty.
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