"Coco has nothing to hang her head about" - Final despair in Miami for Coco Gauff nothing to be shameful about

Coco Gauff had never even reached the Miami Open quarterfinal before the latest iteration of this tournament came around. She managed to put those prior results aside to storm into the final before being defeated by a superior Aryna Sabalenka. Martina Navratilova had a great view of the match, believing that the Belarusian just had too much on the day for Gauff who should leave Miami with her head held high.

Aside from the semi-final, Gauff needed three sets to defeat all her opponents before the final. It follows a pattern from recent times where Gauff shows her quality and resilience deeper into matches amid continuous struggles with her serve and forehand. These were kept quiet in her seventh appearance at the Miami Open, her home event. It was one of her worst-performing WTA 1000 tournaments up until this week, but that has all changed.

She is set to rise back into the top three in the world when the WTA rankings are updated. She could have ended her Sunshine swing with a trophy but despite a decent effort, Sabalenka was not letting up. After losing the first set, Gauff fought back with a late break in the second to force a decider. The four-time Grand Slam champion was not going to let her rival get a foothold in this tie, breaking at the start and end of the set to complete the Sunshine double, the fifth woman to achieve this feat.

When appearing on the Tennis Channel, Navratilova was impressed by the American. “Coco Gauff gave it everything she had. I thought she held her nerve really well,” Navratilova first stated, but she would then follow up by complimenting Sabalenka's sheer power and consistency on court, proving too strong for the two-time Grand Slam champion.

“But Sabalenka, she’s got too much firepower, she just keeps coming at you, and Sabalenka showing what a champion she is," she admitted. “To win these two tournaments back to back now, that they’re two weeks each. It’s a really, really difficult feat. So, Sabalenka on the big front foot to the rest of the field, she’s done something that is done very rarely, and there’s a reason for that: I’m number one.”

Already three titles in 2026 from the world number one, who also lost in the Australian Open final to a stunning Elena Rybakina. She not only clinched the following two titles she competed for but defeated the Kazakh enroute to both of them, extending a gap in front of the rest of the field and confirming she is the best player in the world and the one to beat.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion thoroughly enjoyed the final in Miami, conceding the fact that the crowd probably did not want her to win. “I mean, probably looking back on this one as where she really stamped her signature on the season, but well done to both players. It was a good match. It was well-played, high-quality tennis. Some drama; the crowd didn’t get who they wanted to win, but Sabalenka the rightful winner.”

Navratilova had been very complimentary of Sabalenka to this point, but also saved some for Gauff who may have surprised a lot of tennis fans with this run to the final, not doing it the easy way which earns her more credit. “Coco had to fight her way to get here, played four three-setters in a row until she won an easy one in the semis," Navratilova said.

“And today she just ran into a better player in Sabalenka. She held her nerve beautifully when there were some close times. Gauff took advantage of that one break, because she only had two break points the whole match."

While this may be a frustrating defeat for the 21-year-old, Navratilova was adamant that Gauff should leave Florida pleased with what she produced on court. “Sabalenka just serving so well, backing it up and attacking. Coco has nothing to hang her head about. I think this is the best she’s played and still lost a match because Sabalenka just had a little bit more on her shots.”

This haul of points comes at a crucial time for Gauff. Last year, she reached the final of the Madrid Open and Rome Open before incredibly winning Roland Garros for the first time. That is a lot of points that could be under severe threat. Thanks to the run in Miami, Gauff may have eased the damage if she were unable to continue this recent positive form.