Coco Gauff was beaten in the final of the Italian Open by Jasmine Paolini on Saturday as her French Open preparation took a bit of a hit.
The American performer slipped to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat as Paolini continued to flex her credentials on clay after reaching the French Open final last year.
Gauff is desperate to win that elusive second Grand Slam title and will hope that her run in Italy will give her the confidence to win the big one in Paris in the coming weeks.
This defeat, albeit a setback, will act as motivation for Gauff who will now move her attention very quickly towards the French Open and competing for the title at Roland Garros.
The advice Jimmy Connors would give to Coco Gauff after losing to Jasmine Paolini
Jimmy Connors is never backward in coming forward to offer an opinion and now hosts his own podcast, delivering opinions on tennis in the modern era.
Gauff will be hurting with this defeat and it would appear as though the same errors keep creeping into her game, denying her the chance to get her hands on more silverware.
Connors has some advice for the people in charge of advising Gauff in the way of coaches and he’s delivered his verdict on her latest defeat against Paolini.
He said on the Advantage Connors Podcast: “In one way I look at that and I say at least she is going for her shots. She is just not staying back there and is just content to rally. She is in there, going for it.
“But then I guess knowing when to go for those shots and try to hit it that big is important also.
“I would think the coaches and those around her would be straightforward enough to say, listen, this is where you are playing like this. And look at what would happen if you didn’t do that, which is make so many errors and make your opponent earn it a little bit more, as opposed to giving too many free points away.”
Brett Connors also threw his opinion into the mix and he shares the same view as his dad.
He said: ” It seems weird to miss that much on clay, right? On clay, you know the rallies are going to be long and you hit with more air over the net and to make that many errors on clay is kind of crazy.”
Coco Gauff will be French Open contender
The American is still young and it’s easy to forget that given how much she’s already achieved during her time as a tennis player.
When Gauff managed to win the US Open in 2023, it was anticipated that she’d kick on and win even more titles but that hasn’t proved to be the case just yet.
With the emergence of so many talented players on the WTA Tour, it’s hard for any player to dominate and all Gauff can do is continue working hard and reaching finals at events.
Gauff’s best run at the French Open came in 2022 when she reached the final and now the challenge will be to repeat that at the very least when the tournament gets underway next Sunday.
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