Coco Gauff labelled ‘immature’ as she loses to Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open

Follow us on Google Discover

What was that from Coco Gauff???

The American was one of the pre-tournament favorites, and looked in good shape to challenge for the title when she reached the quarterfinals.

Her quarterfinal performance left a lot to be desired, though, as Gauff lost to Elina Svitolina, 6-1, 6-2.

Are you worried about Coco Gauff in 2026?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

She was well below par throughout, exiting the Australian Open at the quarterfinal stage just as she did in 2025.

Commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live, former British tennis star Annabel Croft gave her assessment of Gauff’s performance.

Annabel Croft says Coco Gauff’s performance was ‘almost immature’ in 59-minute defeat

“[Coco] Gauff is looking very much like a youngster here, and it’s almost immature the way she is handling the situation,” said Croft during the second set.

“You can understand it, though – there is so much pressure on her shoulders every time she walks onto court.”

What has been the biggest upset at the Australian Open so far?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Croft reiterated her point after the match.

“I just think she got outplayed; it’s very humiliating,” she said.

“This is such a harsh sport, there’s nowhere to hide, you’re not in a team where you’ve got mates to pull you up and get your spirits up when things aren’t going so well.

“She was totally exposed psychologically out there, and she was showing it to everybody with her body language.

“She’s only 21, but it did feel like she was showing her age out there tonight.”

The 59-year-old also shared her thoughts on Gauff’s serve, which let her down once again.

“What was weird about tonight, I guess she just had no confidence in her serve, she just resorts to spinning it in,” said Croft.

Coco Gauff vs Elina Svitolina – Match stats

“The spins got shorter and shorter, which really allowed Svitolina to take control.”

Croft then reacted to the scenes of Gauff smashing her racket backstage.

“Oh my goodness, we’re seeing scenes, I’ve never seen Coco Gauff do that before,” she said.

“Some shots of Coco Gauff in the corridor, out on the concrete, hidden away, she would not know that people could see what she was doing there.

“My goodness, how many slams of the racket was that?

“She’s absolutely annihilated her racket to get all of her frustrations out onto a piece of concrete.

“But I reckon there was what, seven, eight, nine strikes of the racket there, to smash it to smithereens.”

It wasn’t the tournament Gauff had hoped for, as she continues to falter at the Grand Slam events…

Coco Gauff’s Grand Slam struggles continue

Since winning the French Open last year, Gauff has only won a handful of matches at the Grand Slam level.

2025 Wimbledon

• 1R [LOSS] vs Dayana Yastremska, 6-7, 1-6

2025 US Open

• 1R [WIN] vs Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5
• 2R [WIN] vs Donna Vekic, 7-6, 6-2
• 3R [WIN] vs Magdalena Frech, 6-3, 6-1
• 4R [LOSS] vs Naomi Osaka, 3-6, 2-6

2026 Australian Open

• 1R [WIN] vs Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-2, 6-3
• 2R [WIN] vs Olga Danilovic, 6-2, 6-2
• 3R [WIN] vs Hailey Baptiste, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
• 4R [WIN] vs Karolina Muchova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
• QF [LOSS] vs Elina Svitolina, 1-6, 2-6

Gauff is 7-3 in her last 10 matches at major tournaments, which is a poor record for someone of her quality.

The pressure will be on the 21-year-old to turn things around, and fast, before the French Open begins.

Defending 2,000 points from her 2025 triumph, Gauff cannot afford another Grand Slam slip-up.

Live WTA Rankings

An early exit in Paris, and Gauff could soon find herself outside the world’s top five.

There’s a lot of tennis to be played before then, though, and Gauff will now turn her attention to the WTA 1000 events in the Middle East.

Gauff will return to tennis at the Qatar Open, which starts on Monday, February 9.