BEIJING — The China Open title was never in Coco Gauff’s plans. After bowing out in the fourth round of the US Open in her title defense last month, Gauff shuffled up her coaching team. The initial thought was to skip Beijing to give the 20-year-old American a solid training block.
In the end, it was Gauff who stepped in and made the call.
“I kind of told my team I wanted to play Beijing,” Gauff said. “We were planning on just coming to Wuhan. I just felt like I needed to play, have fun. I enjoy Beijing.”
Gauff may be a player who relies on instinct, but the numbers back her up. In her tournament debut last year, she marched to the semifinals. This year, she did even better, battling through the week to pick up her first Hologic WTA Tour title since January and second WTA 1000 title overall.
thank you everyone for all of the love and support these two weeks here in Beijing❤️. Very grateful for it all! See you next year! pic.twitter.com/uZbGj4pVtr
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) October 6, 2024
“I think last year, I won US Open and I was like, the rest of the season, I want to do well, but whatever — just play and see what happens,” Gauff told WTA Insider. “And then this time it was like, well, I haven’t done so well. The tournaments that I really wanted to do well in, the Slams, that was over. So it was kind of, let’s just see what happens here.
“I always think that this part of the season will always just be more relaxed for me.”
It turns out, when Gauff keeps her expectations low, good things tend to happen. Looking to shore up her serve and incorporate smarter baseline aggression, Gauff played with intention and purpose in Beijing.
It wasn’t always pretty, as she is the first to admit — she had to come back from a set down in three consecutive matches to make the final — but Gauff is proud of her ability to stick with the plan.
“Everybody can do everything in practice,” Gauff said. “This time, when the pressure is on the line, I was just trying to force myself to do things I was uncomfortable with.
“So yeah, I think the result is now reassurance that I am in the right direction.”
Gauff is confident that she won’t let the Beijing title distract her from the task at hand. The project she undertook with coaches Jean-Christophe Faurel and Matt Daly wasn’t designed for immediate gains. Her focus is on the future.
“A lot of times people forget that I’m still in the developmental phase of…