Coco Gauff is out of the Australian Open after a surprising loss to Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals.
Gauff smashed her racket right after the defeat at Rod Laver Arena, where Svitolina wrapped up the match in just 59 minutes.
The Ukrainian cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win and will now face Aryna Sabalenka, who has two Australian Open titles to her name, in the semis.
Sabalenka, currently ranked number one and top seed in the tournament, saw off Iva Jovic with a 6-3, 6-0 victory in their quarter-final meeting.
Coco Gauff determined to learn from Elina Svitolina defeat
After the defeat, Gauff spoke about how she plans to approach this setback, both mentally and technically.
She said: “Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that question right now. I mean, immediately after I was analyzing, just looking at the stats.
“70% of first serves in. 40% of that won. That’s something I think that cannot happen for me in the future.
“But obviously, yeah, it’s one of those days I’m not going to think about this, like, the next time I play a match, but also, I need to, I guess, learn from the experience on the mental standpoint of when things are going wrong how to better respond to that.
“I felt like my match also at United Cup was very similar where it was not a good day for me, and I didn’t figure it out.
“I got lucky to scrap that second set out. So I just need to figure out the maybe three things that I just need to focus on when I feel like I’m not feeling my best, because it will happen again.
“I mean, it’s two weeks. Some players play well two weeks for the whole time, but there was many matches watching Serena [Williams] play that she would play bad and be able to scrap those out and win the title. I just need to figure out how to get through those bad days.”
Coco Gauff has time to build from her Australian Open exit
Williams was famous for finding ways to win even when she was not at her best, something Gauff has shown as well throughout her young career.
But that same resilience was missing in this particular match, as Svitolina took control early and never let go.
Still just 21 years old, Gauff has plenty of time ahead of her. These experiences often shape players into champions.
This defeat might sting now, especially given how far she had come in the tournament. But with her talent and mindset, there is every reason to believe she will respond well and learn from it.
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