Coco Gauff suffered a shocking loss in Qatar, having entered the tournament as one of the favorites.
The American WTA star had enjoyed a strong start to her 2025 season, winning nine of her first ten singles matches.
Gauff won the United Cup with Team USA to kick off the year, going undefeated at the event on debut.
Making the trip to Melbourne, the 20-year-old fell at the quarter-final stage, as Gauff lost to Paula Badosa, 5-7, 4-6.
Looking to bounce back, she returned to tennis as the third seed at the Qatar Open WTA 1000 event in Doha.
In a shock defeat, Gauff was beaten by Marta Kostyuk, 2-6, 5-7, as she failed to advance to the last 16.
Following the match, one ATP coaching legend gave his thoughts on how Gauff will now react to defeat in the Middle East.
Paul Annacone has a ‘sneaking suspicion’ Coco Gauff will be ‘just fine’ after shock Qatar Open loss
Appearing on the Tennis Channel Live podcast, Roger Federer’s former coach, Paul Annacone, reacted to Gauff’s Qatar Open performance.
“We are early in the season and it is always tough, she has had a break since Australia and it’s tough to come back,” he said.
“It is a long year and a lot of tennis ahead, but when you keep having issues with the same parts of your game it starts to create baggage and that’s what you want to avoid.
“She is young enough, she is tough enough, and she is good enough where she doesn’t have to have that baggage, and she won’t because we have seen her overcome adversity before, but right now it’s about getting match rhythm and trying to get a little more confidence on the forehand and serve.
“I have a sneaking suspicion that Coco Gauff is going to do just fine.”
Gauff’s forehand has troubled her over recent years and looked shaky at points against Kostyuk in Qatar.
Annacone’s co-host Prakash Amritraj agreed, as he doesn’t think there’s too much for Gauff to worry about.
“This was a bit of an off day for Coco, but [Marta] Kostyuk again is a player who has performed well against players in the top ten,” he said.
“I think it was a combination, I don’t think it was a whole reason to worry for Coco but it’s the same mistakes popping up.
“Forehand a bit shaky, serve not as solid as we want.
“But she knows exactly what it is, and these things happen, she just wants to continue to tighten it up.”
Amritraj went on to say that the result was yet another reminder of just how much talent exists at the top of women’s tennis.
“All the upsets going on today, it’s a very exciting time for women’s tennis, lots of different players can go after Slams,” he said.
“It’s also a very deep time in women’s tennis; you do have players outside the top ten who, if you are having a bad day, they can get you.
Five top ten seeds lose in the second round of the Qatar Open
As Amritraj alluded to, Gauff wasn’t the only top star to fall at the first hurdle in Qatar, as four other top ten seeds lost in the second round.
- [1] Aryna Sabalenka – lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova
- [3] Coco Gauff – lost to Marta Kostyuk
- [7] Qinwen Zheng – lost to Ons Jabeur
- [8] Emma Navarro – lost to Leylah Fernandez
- [9] Paula Badosa – lost to Amanda Anisimova
Number one seed Aryna Sabalenka lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova, in the pick of the shock second-round exits.
The 2020 champion was beaten in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, as her Russian opponent advanced to the last 16.
Three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek is now the heavy favorite for the title in Doha, having won her opening match in straight sets to set up a third-round clash with Linda Noskova.
Top ten stars Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, and Daria Kasatkina all remain in the competition and will hope to prevent the Pole from adding an 11th WTA 1000 title to her collection.
The last 16 of the Qatar Open kicks off on Wednesday, February 12, in Doha.
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