Coco Gauff was looking to return to form at the Miami Open having struggled in her previous three WTA 1000 tournaments.
The American world number three began 2025 in fine form, as Gauff won the United Cup for her country before reaching the last eight in Melbourne.
Traveling to the Middle East, things quickly unraveled for Gauff as she lost her opening matches at the Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championships.
Gauff faired slightly better at Indian Wells, beating Moyuka Uchijima and Maria Sakkari before falling to Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.
Looking to get her season back on track at the Miami Open, Gauff enjoyed a dominant first-round win that left two German tennis legends confused.
Boris Becker and Andrea Petkovic were confused by Coco Gauff’s 6-0, 6-0 win over Sofia Kenin
Speaking on the Becker Petkovic podcast, former six-time Major champion Boris Becker expressed his confusion over Gauff’s opening-round win in Miami.
“Coco Gauff won against Sofia Kenin, 6-0-6-0,” said Becker.
“Andrea [Petkovic], explain to me that about tennis.”
Becker’s co-host, Petkovic, also struggled to understand how the 21-year-old produced such a convincing display.
“I’ve been trying to understand it for 10, 20 years, I don’t understand,” she said.
“[Sofia] Kenin has won Melbourne before, loses in round one, 0-0 against Coco Gauff, who is not playing at the highest level. How does that work?
“I’ll make it even more absurd, Boris [Becker].
“In the first round, Kenin beat Petra Kvitova, two-time Wimbledon champion, so she’s obviously playing okay.
“Petra Kvitova, it must be said, has just returned from [maternity leave], so it was only her third match on the tour since her birth.
“But still, Kenin beats Petra Kvitova in the first round, has 2-2 head-to-head against Coco Gauff, so obviously she likes to play against Gauff and then loses 0-0.
| Match | Winner | Loser | Score |
| 2025 Australian Open – 1R | Coco Gauff | Sofia Kenin | 6-3, 6-3 |
| 2023 Wimbledon – 1R | Sofia Kenin | Coco Gauff | 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 |
| 2023 Auckland – 2R | Coco Gauff | Sofia Kenin | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2020 Australian Open – 4R | Sofia Kenin | Coco Gauff | 6-7, 6-3, 6-0 |
“It was a little shocking, I must say. I watched the match, and Sofia Kenin started very, very badly, and then she never recovered from it; that’s what happens.
“Sometimes, you have a bad start, but she never recovered from it.”
How far did Coco Gauff go at the 2025 Miami Open?
Gauff extended her stay in Florida with a third-round victory over Sakkari just as she did in California a few weeks earlier.
Dropping just six games, the American WTA star eased into the last 16, where she took on Poland’s Magda Linette.
It was against Linette that Gauff’s Miami Open dreams came crashing down, as she lost in straight sets, 4-6, 4-6.
The world number three’s serving woes returned, as she hit 12 double faults, by far her worst performance at the tournament.
| Match | Aces | Double faults | First serve % | Win % on first serve | Win % on second serve |
| 4R v Magda Linette | 3 | 12 | 51 | 73 | 55 |
| 3R v Maria Sakkari | 1 | 3 | 70 | 64 | 73 |
| 2R v Sofia Kenin | 1 | 2 | 71 | 84 | 50 |
Gauff will certainly look to get her serving back on track when she returns to action next month.
Coco Gauff set for return to action at the 2025 Stuttgart Open
The American star will soon take the trip to Europe as she begins her clay court campaign in Stuttgart.
Gauff will take to the court in Germany as the number three seed in a stacked field that includes world number one Aryna Sabalenka and two-time champion Iga Swiatek.
- [1] Aryna Sabalenka
- [2] Iga Swiatek
- [3] Coco Gauff
- [4] Jessica Pegula
- [5] Mirra Andreeva
- [6] Jasmine Paolini
- [7] Qinwen Zheng
- [8] Emma Navarro
She has won just two matches in her previous two visits to the tournament, losing in last year’s quarter-finals to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7.
Only time will tell if she can go any further this time around when the Stuttgart Open begins on April 14.
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