Coco Gauff is taking perspective after losing her only match at the Qatar Open this year.
Gauff suffered disappointment at the Australian Open last month, and was looking to put this behind her in Doha.
However, this did not quite go to plan, with Gauff being beaten by Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who was a lucky loser.
Gauff had been left frustrated by her performance, but she was not getting too down on herself after her loss at the Qatar Open.
Coco Gauff explains why she is not getting too down after Qatar Open defeat
Gauff had won all six previous sets she had played against Cocciaretto, before she was beaten 6-4 6-2 in Doha.
Despite losing to the world number 57, Gauff explained that she was not actually too upset in her post-match press conference, as she had not done too well in the Middle Eastern swing last year either.
“I mean, I was really confident to start the year off, so I don’t really know if it’s that,” said Gauff. “Today I was feeling good going into the match, and confident.
“I don’t know, I mean, obviously my last match in Australia wasn’t good, and then today wasn’t good either. I don’t know. I think I am just going to try to learn from it, and hopefully do better in Dubai.
“I’m also not like too upset, because I didn’t do well here last year. I feel like it’s also something that I have to find how to compete better in this part of the swing.”
Gauff has particularly struggled in recent years at the Qatar Open, having lost her last three consecutive matches at the tournament.
Prove us wrong…
Coco Gauff names the ‘one positive’ from her defeat at the Qatar Open
While there were not too many positives for Gauff to take from her defeat to Cocciaretto, she was pleased with her serve.
Gauff’s serve has been a continual issue in recent years, but she was happy by the lack of double faults she hit against Cocciaretto.
“Yeah, I thought my serve was pretty good today,” said Gauff. “I got broken a lot, but I feel like that was more my ground strokes than my serve. Whereas before I felt like it was a lot to do with my serve. So that’s really the only positive I think I can take from today.”
She added, “Yeah, I guess you can look at it that way. I think I’m more critical to look at it like that. But I will say the biggest change I have made obviously is my serve, and today with only three double faults, it’s positive for me.
“The same with the matches that I had in Australia, I think not really many double-faults as well. That’s the one positive. Now I need to figure out what I’m doing off the ground to lose these matches.”
Where will Coco Gauff be ranked at the end of the 2026 season?
That is actually not the only positive for Gauff, who will return to being American number one in the latest WTA rankings update.
Gauff will be hoping to improve her overall level when she plays her next tournament at the Dubai Tennis Championships, which begins on Sunday, February 15.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
