Coco Gauff
has decided to take a break and adjust her schedule for the rest of the year
following her withdrawal from the Zhengzhou Open.
The American
athlete 16-match winning streak came to an end at the hands of Iga Swiatek in
the semifinals of the
China Open, with a score of 6-2, 6-3, and she had to deal
with physical issues during the match.
Gauff had
previously won the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open and her first Grand Slam at the US
Open, in addition to four victories in Beijing. However, the Polish World No. 2
put an end to her streak. Swiatek leads their head-to-head record 8-1,
including the final of the 2022 French Open.
In the
quarterfinals, world No. 3 suffered an injury when she defeated Maria Sakkari,
and the next day, against Swiatek, she had to request a medical timeout due to
the pain. Nevertheless, Gauff admitted afterward that "it's not a terrible
injury" and her team assured her that she "will be fine with a little
rest."
However, it
has now been revealed that Gauff has decided to take a bit more time off and
will not be participating in the Zhengzhou Open, where she was the top seed.
As a
result, Gauff will not play in any more tournaments for the remainder of this
season until the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico. She will prepare for the
year-end event, which begins on October 30 alongside the season's top players.
The
tournament also had to deal with the withdrawal of the second seed Elena
Rybakina due to a lower back injury, and World No. 6 Karolina Muchova will also
be absent due to a wrist injury. Both players will reappear at the Finals.
Nevertheless,
the last WTA 500 event of the year will feature three top-10 players, with the
highest-ranked being Maria Sakkari (6th), joined by Ons Jabeur (7th) and
Caroline Garcia (10th). The main draw of the tournament will begin on Monday,
with all the qualifiers' matches decided.