Coco Gauff
admitted feeling fatigued after her Round of 16 defeat at the
Canadian Open to
Diana Shnaider. The World No. 2 was in Paris 2024 last week, participating in
the singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles draws, playing seven matches in
five days.
The
American was one of the favourites to win a medal in both singles and doubles
but suffered disappointing losses that left her empty-handed. Despite the heavy
physical load, also considering the surface changes, Gauff still travelled to
Toronto to avoid missing the tournament.
Gauff reflects
on early Canadian Open exit
Several of
the top players who were in Paris decided to skip the Canadian Open to take a
break after playing on Roland Garros’ clay courts, including Iga Swiatek, Zheng
Qinwen, Jasmine Paolini, and Barbora Krejcikova. However, Gauff quickly
travelled to Toronto to start the hardcourt swing.
The
American is in a delicate moment of the season, considering that she failed to
defend her title at the WTA 500 DC Open and has to defend her title at the WTA
1000 Cincinnati Open the following week. Moreover, there are only three weeks
left until the US Open, where she is also the defending champion.
At the
Canadian Open, she was the top favourite but suffered a surprising defeat to
14th seed Diana Shnaider 4-6, 1-6. The Russian had recently won the silver
medal in women’s doubles at the Olympic Games alongside Mirra Andreeva.
“Sometimes
I question whether I should have played or not,” Gauff said after her
elimination from the event. “But at the end of the day, I wanted to test myself
and see if I would be able to, how I would do being mentally tired a little bit
and physically fatigued. I said going into the tournament I didn’t have high
expectations, but I wish I could have competed better today, even if it
resulted in a loss. I don’t think I competed well.”
Coco Gauff at Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The
American reflected on her experience in Paris 2024 and her thoughts after
leaving the tournament without winning any medals, despite being one of the big
favourites: “When you have success young, I think people, especially like fans
of the sport, tend to forget you’re still developing,” Gauff told the WTA
website.
“A lot of
times when you look at reasons why some younger girls maybe don’t do as well as
they get older, it’s more mental than anything. Overall, I’m just trying to put
that in perspective, and honestly, the Olympics was a great learning experience
for me.”
“Sometimes
when you do well young, you just, you want everything to happen now. A lot of
them are 24, between the 24 to 27 range, so I guess it puts it into perspective
sometimes. I think I just learned to trust in my training and the journey, just
talking with them and learning about their stories,” she added. “All of them at
some point did well young, just because they’re so good. Your game is going to
reach its final form in a few years. I’m 20, so hopefully by like 24,
I’m there.”