New York (AFP) – Coco Gauff admitted to feeling a “little bit empty” in a heavy US Open defeat by Naomi Osaka on Monday that dashed her dreams of a second title in three years. Gauff turned in an erratic performance as she slid to a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Osaka in a highly-anticipated fourth round battle of former US Open champions.
“It’s been a tough I think post-French Open for me for sure,” said Gauff, who was bundled out in the first round of Wimbledon after her Roland Garros triumph. “I felt good on court. I woke up today thinking, ‘Oh, this is going to be a good day for me where I’m going to play well,’ and then out there I just don’t know what happened.”
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The American’s preparations for the tournament were thrown into turmoil when she took the decision to shake up her coaching team in an effort to better her service game. “I know the improvements that I need to make, and I feel like I’m making the right decision by making them,” said Gauff. “I wish I had more time between this tournament and Cincinnati, but that’s the cards that I was given.”
Her serve showed gradual signs of improvement in New York, but Gauff’s usually reliable return game crumbled against Osaka. Gauff suggested the energy expended on making tweaks on the practice court while competing at the same time had taken its toll on her. “I think emotionally how much this week was, I think today I just stepped in, and I maybe was a little bit empty,” said Gauff.
“I think there’s a lot of positives to take from this tournament,” she insisted. “I am not going to let this crush me. If I kept the way I was going in Cincinnati to here, I would have been out the first round. So I think where my serve started from the start of the tournament to today was a big improvement. I feel like now I just have to get everything to work together. But, yeah, I knew going in it was going to be a tough tournament for me.”
The 21-year-old knows time is on her side though as she seeks to implement changes. “I feel like I put so much pressure on myself at my age at 21, and I realise how much the girls on tour are being successful at 25, 26, at those ages,” said Gauff. “It just gets me excited to realise if I have four more years of just working as hard as I am right now and actually doing the right things, like where my game could be. It has obviously improved in the last four years from four years ago to now. So I think if I can make that same jump of improvement, it’s a lot to be excited for the future for.”
Gauff said she will prioritise honing her craft over results for the rest of the season after a disappointing end to the year’s final Grand Slam. “Your mindset is different once the Slams are over,” said Gauff. “Whatever happens for the rest of the year, I just want it to be improvement. I don’t care results-wise.”
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