Coco Gauff has made it through to the fourth round of Indian Wells after beating two-time finalist Maria Sakkari in straight sets.
Gauff equalled a Williams’ sister record after reaching the last-16 at Indian Wells again, but it was not always with her best tennis.
This was similar to her opening match in California, where Gauff was disappointed with how she played after hitting 74 unforced errors against Moyuka Uchijima.
Those errors were down slightly against Sakkari, but Gauff still hit nine double faults against her Greek opponent, with four of those coming when she was serving for the match.
Despite not always being able to rely on her top level at the moment, Gauff leads an American charge with three US women in the last-16 including Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
Coco Gauff says that she was inspired by what Madison Keys did at the Australian Open
Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Keys are ranked inside the top five at the moment, and so far are living up to their statuses at Indian Wells.
In her third round match against Elise Mertens, Keys also had to ‘win ugly’ after hitting 48 unforced errors including nine double faults.
American women have won half the WTA titles so far in 2025, highlighted by Keys’ maiden major triumph at the Australian Open.
Gauff was one of many to congratulate Keys at the time, with the top ranked American now explaining how she was inspired by her compatriot making changes to her game and personal life.
“Yeah, definitely inspiring just because I’m in that process, and the fact that she committed to it maybe what people consider later in her career,” Gauff said in her press conference.
“You know, I wasn’t surprised by her winning. I think she’s one of those players you play and she’s just so good and she has the capability of beating anyone on any given day, and she certainly proved that in the past and certainly proved that in Australia.
“It’s great to see her finding her — I don’t even want to say finding her game, because she’s been playing great tennis for so long, but I guess finally having the trophy that she deserves with the level of her game, she definitely has one of the highest levels on tour.
“It’s good to see, like, she get a Slam and she deserved it. She just looks a lot happier lately. I think that was kind of the biggest change more than anything technically in her game.
“I think she just gives more positive — not that she’s ever negative, but I feel like I can feel energy off of people, and when I’m around her, she seems a bit happier. Even before winning Australia, to me she felt like she was happier around the locker room and things like that.
“I usually feel when players are in that mindset they tend to do better. So it’s good to see her, like, win and also be kind of happy while doing it.”
Coco Gauff explains how she feels when opponents target her forehand
Many players often target Gauff’s forehand, with that shot sometimes seen as a weakness for the 20-year-old.
Although this has become less of a weakness since hiring coach Matt Daly, Gauff did struggle in Doha and Dubai, where she lost both of her opening matches.
When asked about her opponents targeting that area of her game, Gauff suggested that she didn’t mind it after making alterations to the shot.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously that’s the game plan against me, and I would say since the end of last year I have been playing more aggressively on that side, so I think people just don’t feel comfortable necessarily just putting a ball there,” explained Gauff. “If I get a neutral ball, especially on that end of the court. On these courts I try to be aggressive with it.
“Yeah, I think that’s kind of the goal. So, yeah, I’m glad to kind of hear my opponent felt trapped on that (smiling.) But, yeah, especially on these courts, it’s so slow, so they have to hit a really good shot for me to not be somewhat aggressive on it.
“So I have just been working on that, and that was kind of the goal, like, today. And eventually people attack one and you kind of get used to it at this point. Yeah, I just feel like whenever it’s anything neutral or anything I can get a front foot on, I’m kind of going for it.”
Next up for Gauff will be Tokyo Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, who has come into form since returning from having her first child.
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