Coco Gauff is back on the North American hard courts after an underwhelming run at the Paris Olympics.
After a late bout of Covid-19 ruled Coco Gauff out of the Olympics in Tokyo, her trip to Paris barely could have started much better.
The 20-year-old was selected to be Team USA’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony alongside LeBron James.
Seeded second in the singles and having won the doubles at the French Open in June, Gauff looked set to secure at least one medal.
However after a few hiccups in the doubles with partners Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz, the American tripped up in the last 16 of the singles with Gauff’s controversial defeat to Donna Vekic ending her time in Paris.
While her on-court form was disappointing, Gauff managed to still get a fantastic feel for the festivities and pageantry the Olympics always provides.
What two things is Coco Gauff taking away from her Olympic experience?
Gauff is currently preparing to play Yulia Putintseva in the second round of the Cincinnati Open after a bye in the first.
A title she won 12 months ago, Gauff is hoping to find her form once again as the lead up to her US Open defense properly begins.
Speaking to the Cincinnati Open press before her match, she said: “It was really cool. I wasn’t expecting to receive that [honor] at all. Doing it alongside LeBron was very cool. Just playing the Olympics, in general, representing my country, was a great experience.
“Obviously, it didn’t go how I wanted,” she admitted. “But it was an experience of a lifetime. The people I got to meet, the lessons I got to learn, I think I’ll take for the rest of my life.”
Despite Gauff crashing out early in Toronto to Diana Shnaider, whose Olympic campaign saw her secure a silver medal, the 20-year-old has remained positive in the build up to her difficult opener here in the mid-west.
Is Coco Gauff experiencing a slump in form at the worst possible time?
Gauff tempered expectations ahead of the Toronto Open, with the number of surface changes before meaning the 20-year-old gave herself some time to adjust.
Despite an early win against China’s Yafan Wang, Gauff was totally outplayed by Shnaider, winning just five games in her straight sets defeat.
After a dodgy Olympics run and a premature exit at Wimbledon too, Gauff’s previous summer was much more successful and set her up perfectly for US Open glory.
Losing to eventual winner Pegula in the 2023 Canadian Open quarter-finals before winning in Cincinnati, Gauff didn’t have to deal with the random week on clay just before, with this year’s Olympics a reasonable excuse for a slightly slower uptake on the hard courts.
However, if she fails to reach at least the last eight here in the mid-west, serious questions are going to fired towards Gauff as looks less sturdy going into Flushing Meadows.
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