The term 20-year veteran seems like an oxymoron, but Coco Gauff's performances include… WTA Finals it fits perfectly. The American is taking part in this prestigious season-ending event for the third time in a row and, for several reasons, she now seems to have the best chance to achieve a lot in it. For the third time in a row, she was in a group with Iga Świątek, who had become her tennis nightmare for four years. Will Gauff wake up from it for a second time in Riyadh?
Tears of the overwhelmed Gauff. He will avoid repeating the infamous record
The score was 2-6, 2-1 and 15-15 in the fourth game – that's when Gauff, heading behind the end line to prepare for the next action, wiped away tears with her forearm. Then she stood with her back to the court, took a few deep breaths, and wiped her eyes again. A moment earlier, she had ended the discussion with Aurelie Tourte, the referee of the Roland Garros semi-final from Świątek.
The difference of opinion concerned the controversy from the previous action. Shelf she served and at first the lineswoman called out, but immediately changed her decision. The American messed up the return, and Tourte awarded the point to the server. Gauff was very surprised by this turn of events.
– I am a thousand percent sure that this shout influenced my reaction – she argued to the main judge, but to no avail. And then she gave vent to her emotions.
– She thought she had been wronged. The match is close. She would have had a minimal advance, and all this caused her to shed a tear or two – described Lech Sidor, who commented on that match on Eurosport.
The player from the USA won this game, increasing her lead to 3:1, but then the defending champion dominated and won 6:2, 6:4. In the last action, the American sent the ball far out of the field, recording her 39th unforced error in this match.
– It was just overwhelming. I lose, and then… W match against anyone, every point counts, but especially against her. It was one of those moments. I don't usually get overly frustrated with these types of decisions, but I think it was the sum of everything that was happening at that moment, Gauff later described at a press conference.
Immediately afterwards, when one of the journalists asked whether she would consider the Pole to be a particularly difficult rival, the tennis player smiled bitterly and replied: – Numbers are the answer to this question. Indeed, the 1-11 balance is quite painful when you consider that the talented American has been among the world's best for several years. Just before that June fight in Paris, she was in a very good mood.
– I will go out on the court with confidence. Before the match in Cincinnati, I didn't go into it thinking that I had never beaten her before or even won a set against her. I am not her previous rivals in this tournament. Maybe I'll lose by the same amount, maybe I won't. I will go out and try to win. I have nothing to lose, all the pressure is on her – assured the third racket in the world.
It's in the above-mentioned Cincinnati, halfwayfinal last year's edition, Gauff won her only victory over Świątek – 7:6, 3:6, 6:4. She did not hide her joy at breaking the bad streak in the competition with a Pole who was three years older than her. She was 0-7 up to that point.
– To finally beat her is a great feeling. No offense to Gael Monfils, but I didn't want to repeat his record result against Novak Djokovic [0-19 – red.]. I'm trying my best to improve my balance with Iga. I hope that I will have the opportunity to compete with her again and improve this statistic – she noted.
Her wish came true only partially – later, she was ranked as the current runner-up four times, but she never won a set.
Frustration in Cancun, 60 unforced errors in New York. Summer of dreams and summer crisis
Last year's summer was a dream for Gauff, because she won three tournaments in a short time – in Cincinnati, Washington and US Open. In New York, she won her first Grand Slam title. She made her first appearance in the finals of this prestigious competition when she was only 18 years old. She reached this stage at Roland Garros, and on the other side of the net was Świątek, who loved the local courts. The teenager recorded only four games (1:6, 3:6). Then – overwhelmed with emotions – she burst into tears during a speech during the decorations.
Her frustration showed itself in the duel with the Pole, which she played a year ago. In the WTA Finals group stage match, she made a lot of unforced errors and at one point she angrily threw her racket against the court. She lost the entire match 0:6, 5:7. This is still a better result than the one she recorded two years ago, when she faced Świątek in her debut in the masters – then she recorded only three games.
The talented American, whose idols are sisters Serena and Venus Williams, also shed tears right after she was eliminated in the 1/8 finals of this year's US Open. In this match, she was counted as many as 60 unforced errors and 19 double errors. – I don't want to lose like this again – she admitted sadly at a press conference.
While last summer – just after starting cooperation with the famous trainer Brad Gilbert – was a dream for her, I would probably like to forget about this year as soon as possible. And the beginning of this season did not herald the coming crisis – she won in Auckland, both in the Australian Open and in Roland Garros, she reached the semi-finals (in Melbourne for the first time in her career), and after the Paris event she made her debut as the second racket in the world. She maintained this position for 10 weeks, but then difficult times came – from Wimbledon to the US Open, she never even reached the quarterfinals.
The Gauff Rebirth. Three times is a charm in matches against Świątek?
After an unsuccessful attempt to defend the title in New York, Gauff broke up with Gilbert, and the return to competition a month later turned out to be unexpectedly successful. With new coaches at her side (Jean Christophe Faurel and Matt Daly), she first won the “1000” in Beijing, and then reached the semi-finals in Wuhan. In the last match, she lost to not just anyone, Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, who had been in great shape for a long time.
– In my next starts after being eliminated from Wimbledon, I didn't really have any expectations. I told myself that I would work hard in training and believe that it would bring results. I didn't know when, but she knew that one day she would finally give in. And I bet he's giving now. I told myself I could either let it destroy me or reborn from it. I decided to get back up after this – recently recalled the 20-year-old, who won 10 of the last 11 matches.
He can boast – considering his age – great experience, numerous successes and great maturity. In addition to her eight singles titles, she also has nine doubles titles, including one Grand Slam, which she won at Roland Garros this year. In doubles, she also reached the finals of these prestigious competitions twice (US Open 2021 and Roland Garros 2022). And he talks about his game with some distance, despite his recent great streak.
– I still have a long way to go and I still have to work on many things, but I am proud of myself. My game wasn't complete when I was 15 [W 2004 roku błysnęła, gdy w wielkoszlemowym debiucie dotarła do 1/8 finału Wimbledonu – red.] and it's still not there, but I play almost every week, trying to improve. I am extremely proud of this – she said after her triumph in Beijing a month ago.
Her best result in the WTA Finals is last year's semi-final. It is worth noting, however, that in both previous editions she competed in both singles and doubles. Now she is focusing on individual competition, which should make it easier for her to recover, and she also came with the confidence resulting from recent successes. In addition, she can benefit from the experience from previous editions, and the conditions in Riyadh will also be favorable for her, i.e. a relatively fast hard court (“concrete” is her best surface). The question is whether all this will be enough for her to defeat Świątek for the second time in her career and avoid tears of disappointment this time. We will find out the answer on Tuesday in the second part of the day.