"She and Aryna are tough when they're playing at that level": Coco Gauff compares Anisimova and Sabalenka after semifinal loss

Coco Gauff suffered a particularly painful defeat in the semifinals of the China Open, falling to her compatriot, World No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, 6-1, 6-2, in less than an hour of play. The 21-year-old star could do nothing against her compatriot and compared Anisimova's performance with her previous experience against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Gauff had an interesting run in the tournament, but once again, errors cost her dearly. The American No. 1 got victories against Kamila Rakhimova, Leylah Fernandez, Belinda Bencic, and Eva Lys on her way to the semifinals, achieving a streak of 10 consecutive victories in Beijing.

However, the streak ended against two-time Grand Slam runner-up Amanda Anisimova, who continues her impeccable form of the past year and will play for the title this Sunday. It was a day marked by Gauff's errors; she won only 39% of points on her first serve (and 38% on her second) and committed a total of 5 double faults.

“She played well,” the World No. 3 commented during the press conference. “I felt like I couldn’t really have a chance of getting a rhythm out there. But a learning experience for the next time.”

The loss to Anisimova did not hurt as much because of the rival, but rather because of the scoreline. Anisimova's level in recent months has been remarkable, reaching the finals of the US Open and Wimbledon—only to lose to Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, currently the World No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

“I mean, she’s definitely one of the best out of those I’ve played. Yeah, for sure, she and Aryna [Sabalenka] are tough when they’re playing that level of tennis,” Coco Gauff commented after her defeat in just 58 minutes. “I felt like today, no matter what I did, I just couldn’t get into the match. So yeah, I’m going to take this and learn from it.”

Gauff lost a good number of ranking points but remains comfortably as World No. 3. However, she still has an important point defense ahead: she must defend the semifinals at the Wuhan Open, and after that, she defends the title at the WTA Finals—precisely the only two tournaments she will play for the rest of the season.

Although she failed to defend the title, Gauff leaves with a good impression of her time at the tournament, where she achieved several consecutive victories. “Overall [it was] a positive tournament. I had a great time here on and off the court,” Gauff acknowledged regarding her time in Beijing. “I felt pretty good going out there today. I don’t know, I was practicing great. I just went on court, and she completely took over. So yeah, I think there’s a lot of learning experiences. I know what I need to do against players like her in the future. Now it’s all about going back to practice and trying to implement those things.”

Gauff will have a quick chance for revenge at the Wuhan Open, where she awaits her debut on Tuesday, October 7th. Her opponent is yet to be determined, coming from a match between local Xinyu Wang and a qualifier. There will be significant pressure on Gauff, who must reach the semifinals if she does not want to lose points—and ranking positions—especially considering that Anisimova is getting closer to pushing her out of the Top 3.