Coco Gauff defends herself against scrutiny after early Indian Wells exit

World No. 3 Coco Gauff went out in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open 2025 at Indian Wells on Wednesday, March 12. She led the in-form Belinda Bencic by a set but couldn't sustain the momentum, eventually losing to her 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The American was doing relatively well on serve and was up 4-4, 40-0 in the third set.

However, Bencic managed to break Gauff's serve in that game, and closed out the contest after that. It was a tough loss for the 20-year-old, who also turns a year older on March 13. She analyzed her performance and took stock of her recent results during her post-match press conference.

Gauff acknowledged that while she had a disastrous Middle East swing, she performed well in Australia, winning the United Cup and making the second week of the Melbourne Major.

"I mean, overall I feel like, I mean, it's not as bad as it seems, I guess. I mean, start of the year, I did well at United Cup and lost to Paula fourth round in Australia. Middle East wasn't a great swing for me," Gauff said.

As far as her loss at Indian Wells is concerned, Gauff mentioned that she lost a close match to one of the most in-form players of the season. She's working hard to improve her flaws but her efforts aren't being rewarded just yet.

"Here, I mean, I lost 6-4 in the third in the fourth round against a tough opponent who's coming off a 500 win. Obviously I wanted to do better, want to have better results, but it's not something I can crush myself on. I'm trying to do better, and that's all I can do. I'm trying to work on things in practice, and unfortunately right now it's not translating how I'd like to," she said.

Gauff made the semifinals here a year ago, so she's going to lose some ranking points for losing the fourth round this time. Nevertheless, she's still going to be ranked No. 3 next week. She will now turn her attention to the next WTA 1000 tournament, the Miami Open.

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Coco Gauff aiming for a better showing at the Miami Open 2025

Coco Gauff at the BNP Paribas Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Coco Gauff will aim to overcome her poor string of results at the Miami Open 2025, which will begin from March 18. It will be the final tournament on hardcourts, after which the tour switches surfaces to clay.

The Miami Open is one of two WTA 1000 tournaments where Gauff is yet to make the last eight, along with the Madrid Open. She has a 6-5 record in Miami, with a couple of fourth-round appearances being her best results.

Gauff started off strong in last year's edition of the Miami Open. She dropped a total of seven games across her first two matches but ran into an inspired Caroline Garcia in the fourth round, who beat her in three sets.