Coco Gauff has admitted she will need to improve certain areas of her game if she wants to rise up the rankings after a 6-4 6-0 defeat to Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells.
The American has had a consistent start to the season but ultimately has achieved what her ranking expects of her.
Another example of that was at Indian Wells where Gauff exited the quarter-finals to Aryna Sabalenka.
The sixth seed only won four games in the defeat to the Australian Open which was another case of how much Gauff needs to improve if she wants to be higher than just a top ten player.
Speaking to the press after her match Gauff admitted that she is showing consistency but is looking to improve if she wants to reach her ultimate goal, “I mean, I think right now I feel like I’m playing where my ranking is, and I don’t want to stay, you know, just inside the top 10,” Gauff said in her press conference.
“I want to be No.1 So I think I have to do better when it comes to these type of matchups when I’m playing higher-ranked players or in general even players who are slightly ranked lower than me, I think I need to do better in those matchups.
“I think that’s the reason why. You know, getting late into these tournaments but falling up short. I think I just need to take care of the details because the details definitely start to show when you’re playing against higher-ranked players and they know how to capitalize off that.
“So I think I need to improve certain areas of my game so that it’s not so easy to capitalize off of it.”
Gauff also spoke about her problem solving capabilities and how much she talks to her team during a match, “I think it’s something that finding the
balance I think, and I still haven’t found it,” Gauff admitted.
“Today I was looking for more feedback from my team than I normally do. But it’s definitely a difference. For me, I really usually do well in the problem-solving aspect of matches. There’s a lot of times where I come back from down.
“But sometimes where I feel like I’m more emotional and I probably can’t see clearly. It’s not that I don’t know what I need to do, maybe I know how I’m feeling in the moment, I think I need some direction.”
Gauff is looking to work on her problem solving and other areas of her game as she plays the Miami Open next week.
As for Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion will now play Maria Sakkari in the semi-finals.
