It’s been fairly tough going for the defending US Open champion recently.
A poor showing at Wimbledon bled into an underwhelming Olympic campaign where Coco Gauff came away with nothing beyond some good memories.
On her way to glory last year, Gauff won her maiden WTA 500 title in Washington before a trip to the Midwest saw her bruise her way to the Cincinnati crown.
Her win at Flushing Meadows last year seemed to originally symbolise that Gauff was now going to be a regular title contender.
However, with no major success since, Gauff’s hard court season this year needed to get off to a fast start.
While Gauff acknowledged how the swift surface changes might affect her performance in Toronto, she could no longer temper expectations when she was dumped out in her opening match in Cincinnati.
Rennae Stubbs hates seeing Coco Gauff struggle so much
Gauff’s humbling to Diana Shnaider was a shock to everyone despite the Russians remarkable rise up the rankings this year.
Going into the US Open, Gauff’s recent defeats and Aryna Sabalenka’s rise and form means the Belarusian has leapfrogged her into the second seed spot.
Concerned about the American, Rennae Stubbs suggested that it is only going to get more difficult for the 20-year-old in the coming weeks.
“I think there’s a lot of voices coming her way. I think that, you know, in so many ways, I feel really sorry for [Coco Gauff], because she has such a glaring lights on her,” Stubbs said on her podcast. “And it’s only going to get more and more glaring at the US Open with what she has to do to.”
“She’s lost a lot of points, she won’t be seeded No. 2 at the US Open, she’ll have a little bit, well, arguably, a little bit of a tougher draw depending on you know who she gets. She’ll be, I think the No. 3 seed,” she added.
“I feel so sorry for her because all the lights are on her and she’s not in a good space, she’s mentally not in a good space,” the American said. “She’s getting very upset on the court.”
“It’s not like [Coco Gauff] can go and play a Challenger and get some tennis under the belt, she’s got to go and play the US Open next and she will be on Arthur Ashe Stadium for her first match,” Stubbs said.
Why is Coco Gauff having such a poor run of form?
Ahead of the move to the North American hard courts it felt a fairly reasonable approach to play down hopes of a run immediately.
With the Olympics requiring players to move from grass to clay and now to the hard courts, the surface leap stood as a solid excuse.
With only one win under her belt in her three matches, chances of a successful US Open defence feel to be slimming by the second.
The unforced error count, especially on her forehand seems to be the primary reason she has struggled recently.
Moreover, as Stubbs pointed out, Gauff has been no stranger to a few runs with the umpires.
Gauff’s outburst against Donna Vekic in Paris came just a few months after a similar tirade in the French Open semifinals.
On both occasions Gauff was already frustrated with her game and the outpouring of emotion towards the umpire could have been a constructive leveller for her.
However, she ended up losing both of these matches and with such little confidence going in but all the expectation remaining, it might prove to be a difficult outing in New York.
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