"Everyone is like, she's sinking" - Coco Gauff makes position clear on poor form going into Indian Wells 2025

Coco Gauff recently laid bare her thoughts on her form struggles going into the 2025 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Gauff finished the 2024 tennis season on a high, finishing the year as the WTA Finals champion. She then began the ongoing season by leading the USA to United Cup glory. However, since then, the World No. 3's form has been questionable.

At the 2025 Australian Open, Gauff was stunned by a resurgent Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. The 20-year-old's next two tournaments, the Qatar TotalEnergies Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, were both disastrous outings, as she failed to get past her opening-round opponents (Marta Kostyuk in Qatar, McCartney Kessler in Dubai).

Speaking at a pre-tournament press conference at Indian Wells ahead of her campaign at the prestigious hardcourt WTA 1000 event in the Californian desert, Coco Gauff said:

"Yeah, for me, I don't know, everybody makes a bigger deal than what it is… I lost two matches. I'll lose more matches back to back, it's going to happen. Everyone is, like, oh, she's sinking. Okay, we've been through this. I'll pick it back up. To me, for me I guess it feels like a month but it's just two tournaments, and at this calendar I have so many other opportunities, and I can't win every match."

The 2023 US Open champion went on to bemoan the conditions she had to adjust to across her forgettable campaigns in Qatar and then Dubai, both of which led to the American being criticized by fans. Gauff also hoped that she wouldn't experience too many back-to-back losses going forward, even though she was not too hard on herself because of her tender age.

"Yeah, it is a tough part of the swing for me, just I think mainly because the conditions I don't think are in my favor. But at the end of the day, like, yeah, I was upset that I lost, but it's a loss, like, it's going to happen again. I'm going to lose back to back again. Hopefully it doesn't happen too many times in my career. But yeah, it's just one of those things that you just move on and get better," Coco Gauff added.

"You know the results will come. It's, you know, just normal, I think. I'm only 20 years old, going to be 21 next week. It would be kind of silly for me to think it won't happen to me again if I'm going to be out here hopefully at least 10 more years," she concluded.

Gauff has so far made four main draw appearances at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Her best finish at the tournament came last year.

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Coco Gauff suffered an upset at the hands of Maria Sakkari at Indian Wells 2024

Coco Gauff reacting during her semifinal clash against Maria Sakkari at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (Source: Getty)

Coco Gauff reached the semifinals of the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, registering her best finish at the WTA 1000 tournament. Previously, the American had reached the quarterfinals (2023) and the third round (2021, 2022).

In last year's semifinals though, Gauff was upset by Maria Sakkari, with the American losing the thrilling three-set affair 4-6, 7-6(5), 2-6. Before this particular match, Gauff had won 20 consecutive matches on US courts.

At the 2025 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Coco Gauff is the No. 3 seed in the women's singles main draw. She is slated to start her campaign in the second round, having received a first-round bye. The draw hasn't been kind to Gauff this time around, as she may have to get the better of reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek to go all the way.