"Certainly sends a message to everyone else in the locker room” - Hassle free Canadian Open run bodes well for Coco Gauff as concrete message sent

Coco Gauff is emerging as a force to be reckoned with once more. Starting to consistently find her feet on court once more, she is ironing out the gaping holes in her game and is producing some eye-catching displays which had cemented her as one of the best players in the world. Former professional Christopher Eubanks was especially impressed with the 22-year-old's comfortable progress through the Canadian Open draw with a quarter-final showdown against Belinda Bencic on the horizon.

The two-time Grand Slam champion has been accustomed to getting drawn into long and tense battles, playing out all three sets while recovering from breaks and even match points to get the win over the line.

This theme seemed to have stopped for the time being as she is yet to drop a set in this year's Canadian Open. Beforehand, seven of her eight prior matches went the distance, including five consecutive matches at Wimbledon where she spurned a match point in the semi-final enroute to defeat against Karolina Muchova.

That heartache has since been put to the back of her mind with glory in Toronto her priority. She has romped past Kayla Day, Maria Sakkari and most recently 19-year-old Russian qualifier Alina Korneeva while just dropping four games in her last-16 contest.

She will need to be at her impressive best if she is to topple Bencic who is also playing some very good stuff, bageling Alexandra Eala in her latest court outing.

Eubanks had a close eye on Gauff and would lavishly praise her following confirming a fourth quarter-final in this tournament. Most notably her ability to get it done without any faff or hassle.

“Just the fact that she’s been getting through these matches in straight sets,” Eubanks said on the Tennis Channel. “I mean, she answered the question right then about how does it feel to be able to make it through your first three rounds in straight sets.

“We’re used to sitting down for a Coco Gauff match feeling like, okay, there may be some ebbs and flows. It might go three sets, but you kind of start to know that at the end of the day, she’s going to get the win."

He admitted that this is a great sign for her and an ominous one for the competition. “She’s been doing that, but I’ve been really impressed with her ability to go out there [and] weather a little bit of storm when she still hasn’t played some of her best tennis at the start of matches and then just rebounds, and she’s been rolling. I think that bodes well for her confidence and certainly sends a message to everyone else in the locker room.”

The American continued his analysis by highlighting her tennis IQ and how crucial that has been for her progress. “And one other thing, I also love the way she’s been thinking her way through matches,” he commented.

“You highlighted her athleticism – that gets talked about a lot, her ability to win gets talked about a lot – but she’s thinking her way through matches. She is a very cerebral and tactical player. And it’s been fun to watch her tennis IQ be on full display, as we see her coming to net a little bit more, then finding moments in which she needs to play a little bit more defensive and passive. She’s playing the pressure moments well, and she’s finding her way through.”

One more win in Toronto and Gauff breaks new ground. A three-time quarter-finalist in her first three appearances in the Canadian Open, her last two appearances resulted in a third round and fourth round exits in 2024 and 2025 respectively. She is back in the last-eight with a first semi-final closing in. It would be a 16th at WTA 1000 level with an eighth final two wins away.