Coco Gauff has thanked the Canadian Open for granting her request, which has allowed for a much smoother transition from Montreal to Cincinnati.
Although the 21-year-old lost early in the singles draw, her remarkable run to the final of the doubles with McCartney Kessler kept her in the area for far longer than anticipated.
And, when they went on to win the title, it felt like this unexpected success might frustratingly derail her next event, given the new condensed format of the two events.
Unwilling to be scuppered by arbitrary rules, Coco Gauff pushed for a change that she saw as fair and fitting, and was granted permission.
She has now thanked the organisers for their cooperation, though not without questioning the format first.
Coco Gauff offers advice to the Cincinnati Open
Speaking at the Cincinnati Open press conference, Gauff did not hold back in delivering her assessment of the new format across both this Masters 1000 event and the last.
She even offered some advice, and thanked the Canadian Open for granting one request that has helped her transition between the tournaments.
Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images
Gauff replied to the reporters, first asked if she likes the new format: “I mean, yes and no, because everybody’s dealing with the same thing, so if it impacts, everybody’s dealing with that impact.
“And, I mean, I didn’t do that well in Montreal as far as singles, so I don’t feel like, tired or anything. You know, I am curious how the players who did well in Montreal, how they perform here, just because it is overlapping tournaments.
“If I had to put input, I do think, you know, overlapping is just tough for all, well, maybe not for all players involved, even like, on the doubles aspect, like next year, I mean, even though I won Montreal and like thinking, should I play or not? Like, just because of the fact that I pushed really hard for that final to be on Wednesday, and I’m very grateful for the tournament to grant that, but that doesn’t mean that’s always going to happen. So, yeah, I think it’s an interesting topic with the overlapping tournaments.
“I think the two-week tournaments are tough. Yeah, I don’t mind them as much, but it is tougher when they do overlap, because the conditions, I haven’t practised yet, but I know from the past that the conditions are very different.
“So, um, yeah, we’ll see how these two weeks go and we’ll see what they decide for next year and how this format will, if they’ll be continued or not.”
Gauff was stunned in Montreal by Victoria Mboko, the 18-year-old who went on to win her maiden Masters 1000 title.
Coco Gauff will want to relive her 2023 Cincinnati Open run
As one of the two Masters 1000 events that Gauff has won, Cincinnati is special to her.
However, exiting in just the second round last year was far from good preparation for the US Open, which she would go on to lose in the fourth round as well.
It feels like a fine performance in this final event before the last Grand Slam of the year is crucial to ensuring she performs well, given that when she won the Cincinnati Open in 2023, she also won the US Open too.
YearCincinnati OpenUS Open2024Second RoundFourth Round2023WinnerWinner2022First RoundQuarter-finals2021Second RoundSecond RoundCoco Gauff’s performance around this time of the year
Gauff went into the former of those competitions as the seventh seed, expected to perform, but not win the whole thing.
She proved many wrong on her way to the title, beating the top seed Iga Swiatek before then defeating Karolina Muchova in the final, who had just beaten Aryna Sabalenka in her semi-final.
The rest, as they say, is history. Gauff will be hoping history repeats itself this year.