Why a positive outlook is crucial to Coco Gauff's US Open title defense

The past year has featured a string of stirring firsts for Coco Gauff: First WTA 1000 title, first Grand Slam title, the No.2 ranking and, after a vote of her fellow Americans, being the United States flag bearer along with LeBron James.

And now, arguably, comes the biggest first of them all -- defending that US Open title against a hungry, motivated field in search of the season’s last major. We’ve had two successful major defenses this year already -- can Gauff follow the examples of Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek in Melbourne and Paris? 

No one wants it more badly than Gauff herself. A year ago, before she collected that first Grand Slam, she said she felt that pressure from the outside. Now it’s coming almost exclusively from within.

“Definitely from me,” she said last week in Cincinnati. “Obviously, people want me to win more, but I’m 20, I have a long way to go. Most of my competitors in the Top 10 are 24 or older, other than Iga [Swiatek]. 

“Yeah, I have time. Obviously, I want to win now because I’m used to winning so early, but I think I’ve taken a step back and realize I have another 10 years in this sport, so I want to enjoy it.”

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This is the mindset she’ll need to navigate the swirling, stressful US Open, which begins Monday. But it’s not always easy to summon. Growing pains, both strategically and in terms of maintaining composure, have been evident recently.

“Confidence, it’s like money -- hard to get and very easy to lose,” said Martina Navratilova, a 18-time Grand Slam singles champion. “She had great results last year going in. Now, she puts bigger expectations on herself than anyone else -- and that’s tougher to deal with. You know how well you can play because you’ve done it. And it’s hard to understand why it’s happening.”

Gauff lost in the Round of 16 at the Olympics to eventual silver medalist Donna Vekic, the same stage she went out in Toronto to Diana Shnaider. As Cincinnati’s defending champion, she lost her first match to Yulia Putintseva. Gauff’s body language in that taut third set was not a tribute to the power of positive thinking.

There were nine double faults against Putintseva, and this year Gauff has served up more than any other player. At a time when she was hoping for some momentum, she’s lost three of her past four matches. And while the excitement of the Olympics -- she competed in all three disciplines -- could explain this recent dip, it’s actually been a step back for Gauff from her breakthrough 2023 season.

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Yes, there was an early title in Adelaide, trips to the semifinals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, as well as the WTA 1000s at Indian Wells and in Rome. But, scratching beneath the surface, she’s 4-7 against Top 20 players this year and 3-5 against the Top 10 -- two of those wins coming against the injury compromised Ons Jabeur.

Navratilova has some ideas on how Gauff can get her groove back.

Dial back the second serve: “It’s not like she’s getting hurt on the second serve -- she gets hurt when she double faults,” Navratilova said. “You can get hurt with a little 65-70 mph that lands in the middle of the box. But if you get it in deeper, with a lot of spin, you don’t have to hit it hard. As long as the ball is deep in the box, an 80 mph second serve is good enough.”

Don’t tweak the forehand -- yet: “You can’t change the forehand and that extreme western grip now,” Navratilova said. “Maybe in the offseason I would try to work on that and fix it. People have the playbook now. You’ve got to make those adjustments -- as a player, you want to evolve. Yes, you can still win that way, but you’ll win a lot more if you can change it.”

Remember the good times: “Just try to go on memory, when things were working so well,” Navratilova said. “Watch videos of yourself playing. Last year when she was so good -- just to get into the mood because you almost forget how well you did. Take the pressure off in a way. 

“In the end, just do what you were doing last year. Try to mix it up as much as you can, down the line and crosscourt, and when you get the backhand, take advantage of those opportunities.”

Gauff’s record against Top 50 players is, surprisingly, 16-14.

“Honestly, I think I’m trying to be more aggressive, which I am happy about,” Gauff said in Cincinnati. “But I think my main mentality is that I can be more positive with myself on the court. This week I’m trying to work on being more positive. When I do that, I play better.”

That was a few days before she came unstrung against Putintseva. But here’s the thing: Gauff has proven she can flip the switch.

After losing to Sofia Kenin in the first round of Wimbledon last year, she went on a career-changing run, winning titles in Washington, D.C., Cincinnati and the US Open. Her signature superpower down that stretch was problem-solving. Gauff dropped the first set in three of her seven US Open confrontations and won them all. She won 18 of 19 matches on North American hard courts, then backed it up with solid results in Beijing and the WTA Finals in Cancun -- to finish the season 51-16.

Given all that’s happened this summer, perhaps the early loss in Cincinnati was a fortuitous turn of events. Instead of going deep in Cincinnati and heading straight to New York, Gauff instead went back home to Delray Beach, Florida.

“Obviously, I have a lot coming up soon with the US Open, so I think just trying to reset and be ready for that,” Gauff told reporters in Cincinnati.

“One thing I’ve learned is that I have had a lot of success so far in my career, and I always put the pressure on myself to do more. But sometimes it’s good to just say you did well, and obviously you want to do more. I think I’m trying to take a step back and enjoy what I’ve done so far and use that experience to push me forward.”