Coco Gauff thinks she knows the main reason why she has just lost back to back matches in Dubai and Doha

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Coco Gauff is looking to move on from her disappointing Middle Eastern swing at Indian Wells this year.

Gauff has lost three consecutive matches, dating back to her Australian Open quarter-final defeat to Paula Badosa.

However, the American is not the only one to have struggled during the Middle Eastern swing, with Aryna Sabalenka joining Gauff with early exits at both tournaments.

Now looking to move on from her disappointing February, Gauff is looking to make Indian Wells history this year.

However, she will have to do it the hard way, with Gauff being handed a tricky Indian Wells draw.

Coco Gauff explains why she lost back to back matches in Doha and Dubai

Gauff went unbeaten at the United Cup as part of the winning USA team to kick-off her 2025 season, but has not quite been able to live up to that form since.

When the 20-year-old was asked about why she thinks she lost her only matches in Doha and Dubai to Marta Kostyuk and McCartney Kessler, respectively, Gauff claimed that the conditions were a big factor.

The world number three also explained in her pre-Indian Wells press conference that she was not reading too much into those losses.

“Yeah, for me, I don’t know, everybody makes a bigger deal what it is, I lost two matches,” said Gauff. “I’ll lose more matches back to back, it’s going to happen. Everyone is, like, ‘Oh, she’s sinking’. Okay, we’ve been through this. I’ll pick it back up.

“To me, for me I guess it feels like a month but it’s just two tournaments, and at this calendar I have so many other opportunities, and I can’t win every match.

“Yeah, it is a tough part of the swing for me, just I think mainly because the conditions I don’t think are in my favor. But at the end of the day, like, yeah, I was upset that I lost, but it’s a loss, like, it’s going to happen again. I’m going to lose back to back again. Hopefully it doesn’t happen too many times in my career.

“But yeah, it’s just one of those things that you just move on and get better. You know the results will come. It’s, you know, just normal, I think. I’m only 20 years old, going to be 21 next week. It would be kind of silly for me to think it won’t happen to me again if I’m going to be out here hopefully at least 10 more years.”

Coco Gauff explains how the courts differ at Indian Wells compared to Doha and Dubai

Gauff has lost her only match at the Qatar Open for the past two years, while she achieved her best result at Indian Wells in 2024 by reaching the semi-finals.

When continuing to speak to media ahead of the 2025 Indian Wells tournament, Gauff elaborated on how the conditions differ in California compared to the Middle East.

The 2023 US Open champion suggested that Doha and Dubai favour flat-hitting players, with Amanda Anisimova and Mirra Andreeva winning the respective titles.

“Yeah, I don’t know if you guys notice, but in Doha a lot of the flatter-hitting girls did better there,” explained Gauff. “The ball doesn’t bounce as much a little bit for us who play with more spin. Yeah, I think that was one of the things. In Dubai, I mean, I’m not using excuses, it’s just being real, some conditions don’t favor certain people.

“But yeah, a lot of the hard courts are different. They’re slower. The ball doesn’t really — I play with a little bit more spin — doesn’t really bounce as much. I think a lot of those who play with spin struggled. If you look at all the matchups, a lot of the flatter-hitting girls end up doing better there, whereas maybe here it’s a little bit better for us who hit with more spin because the ball bounces on the court more.

“So there is different conditions. It’s not just a hard court, but at the end of the day, it’s what we have to deal with and at some tournaments you do better at and some you don’t.

‘That’s just kind of how it is being a competitor and you just learn how to do better in those conditions. Maybe next year I’ll try to take some things I learned and hopefully do better.”

Gauff has suggested that different hard courts can vary in how they play, which could be the case at Indian Wells after they changed the surface that has been in place for 25 years.

She will get her fifth Indian Wells campaign on Saturday March 8 against the winner of the match between Emma Raducanu and Moyuka Uchijima.