Coco Gauff is set to defend her China Open title as she gets back on the court following the US Open.
Naomi Osaka beat Gauff at the fourth round stage in New York, with the American unable to follow up her success at Roland Garros with another major title.
Pundits claimed Gauff made a mistake going into the US Open, but as ever, the poster girl for women’s tennis did her own thing, and that is admirable.
Gauff has had some service issues, and the hope will be that things can click for her once again as the Asian swing gets underway.
Photo by Elsa/Getty ImagesCoco Gauff admits the China Open is like a practice tournament
Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova in last year’s final, and it’s clearly a tournament that she looks forward to.
However, the world number three has conceded that the tournament isn’t one she wholly takes seriously and sees it more as a chance to work on some things on the court.
The women compete in a WTA 1000 event in Beijing, and Gauff has shared how she is feeling ahead of the tournament, making a surprise admission about how serious she takes things.
She said in her pre-tournament press conference: “Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean, for me, I don’t know why, it just feels different at the end of the year. Although technically I’m the defending champion, it doesn’t feel like that at all.
“I don’t want to say ‘not care’ because obviously I’m not playing a tournament and trying to lose or anything. But yeah, there is definitely a weight that you kind of just don’t care in a way, especially when you’ve had like a good moment of the season.
“I think winning the French Open helped me take that weight off less. I think last year I did care, but maybe I felt a little bit like I had to do something, because I hadn’t won a big title at that point, at that time of the year yet.
“I don’t know how I feel right now. I definitely feel a lot lighter. It feels, again, like a practice tournament. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Gauff will be going for a second title at this event this time around, looking to draw level with Serena Williams, who won this crown twice during her career.
Gauff shares what she loves about Beijing
The players often look forward to the Asian tournaments getting underway, with good prize money on offer in a fantastic part of the world.
Gauff is no exception and she’s now shared what she loves about the city of Beijing ahead of the tournament getting started.
She continued: “Well, the first thing was the Great Wall. I thought that was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen in person. Especially when you look at how long ago it was built. So that was really cool.
“The Forbidden City, I would like to do it again, the full experience. I only did it, like, 25 minutes with Carlos. He came late, so it got cut short. I didn’t do it that much (smiling).
“I think the culture is really cool and very different from anything. Being from a country like the U.S., which is considered way younger than China. I think visiting a country with so much history behind it is really cool, just learning about the different dynasties, how everything is kind of intertwined, which we don’t really have that in the U.S. because it is so much a melting pot, whereas here it’s not so.
“I think it’s really cool just to do a deep dive. I would say if you’re interested, really try duck here, it’s really good, and go to the Forbidden City and some of the temples. I’m not a Beijing expert, but I had a great time and I definitely recommend people to try.”