{"id":666710,"date":"2026-05-13T13:06:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/666710\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T13:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:06:22","slug":"coco-gauff-mirra-andreeva-and-the-tennis-players-challenge-of-getting-out-of-their-own-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/666710\/","title":{"rendered":"Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva and the tennis player\u2019s challenge of getting out of their own way"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the start of the French Open<\/a> just over two weeks away, the defending champion is doing what she does best. Coco Gauff<\/a> is scrapping for her wins.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old American logged her third straight comeback victory Tuesday in the Italian Open<\/a> quarterfinals, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, against world No. 7 Mirra Andreeva<\/a>. She led 5-1 in the final set, but needed five match points to improve to 5-0 against the young Russian.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough. When I play her, she can play great tennis at any moment. But I saved a match point in the last round, so I could easily not be here today,\u201d Gauff said in her news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just trying to appreciate just being here, even if those match points weren\u2019t going my way. I think it showed in my reaction every time I lost them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the win, Gauff advanced to the semifinals of the Italian Open for the fourth time in her career and for the third consecutive year. It was a triumph over a player with whom Gauff shares much in common these days, beyond their superb defensive skills and prodigious talent that emerged at a young age.<\/p>\n

Both Gauff and Andreeva are strong contenders for the Roland Garros title next month, part of a group that includes fellow Italian Open quarterfinalists Elena Rybakina<\/a> and Iga \u015awi\u0105tek<\/a>, as well as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both are also trying to figure out key elements of their games while standing under a harsh spotlight, technically and mentally. Gauff and Andreeva have both been winning plenty of matches lately, but they have both needed to get out of their own way \u2014 especially when ahead on the scoreboard.<\/p>\n

For Andreeva, her mental and emotional state during matches has wavered far more than her tennis.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old\u2019s clay-court swing has been successful, picking up a title on indoor clay at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open before reaching the finals of the Madrid Open in singles and doubles.<\/p>\n

But her strong run has been peppered with public bouts of self-doubt, and Andreeva has spoken about how disruptive her untamed emotions can be in matches.<\/p>\n

The most memorable recent moment came in a third-round match<\/a> in Madrid against Hungary\u2019s Anna Bond\u00e1r, in which Andreeva had let go of a 5-1 lead in the third set. She then turned to her coaching team in the stands and said, \u201cI\u2019m not a champion, I\u2019m not a champion. I will lose. I will lose. I choke.\u201d<\/p>\n

It appeared that Andreeva, who has gone through bouts of self-flagellation and dismay in moments big and small of late, culminating in cursing at the crowd after a loss at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells<\/a>, was done. Instead, she won the match.<\/p>\n

Gauff, meanwhile, spoke of additional off-court challenges that have had her \u201con edge\u201d and listening to gospel music before matches to calm down. She has also admonished herself the past week, even in matches she ultimately won.<\/p>\n

She pulled off a pair of comebacks to reach the quarterfinals in Rome, fighting from match point down in the fourth round against 18-year-old American Iva Jovi\u0107, the 16th seed, and from a double-break down against Solana Sierra in the third round. But in both matches, Gauff let a platform for victory strip her of her ruthlessness.<\/p>\n

She went 3-0 down to Sierra in the third set after winning the second 6-0, while she led by a break in both of the first two sets against Jovi\u0107, before finding herself down a set and 5-3. A combination of nerves and an issue with a finger on Jovi\u0107\u2019s right hand gave Gauff the assist she needed to win the second set. Then she took over the third.<\/p>\n

Gauff said her motivation was flagging against Sierra, a symptom of what she called \u201csome personal things off court\u201d that she\u2019s been going.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor most of my career, I\u2019ve been having to only focus on my game. So it\u2019s weird when your mind is in a different place,\u201d she said after winning that match.<\/p>\n

What Gauff and Andreeva also share is a sense of distrust of their forehands. Gauff, who has been on an odyssey to fix her fickle serve, appears to have quelled the double faults that defined her losses in 2025. She is not there yet on the most important groundstroke for most players, with her footwork and spacing \u2014 how close she gets to the ball before hitting it \u2014 getting her off balance and needing her to compensate with her phenomenal backhand and foot speed. Andreeva, too, can swing through the shot, but often decelerates and plays it safer than she needs to, slicing when she could drive.<\/p>\n

Andreeva looked to be the more confident competitor at the start Tuesday. She dictated more often after breaking early for a 2-1 lead and captured her first set against Gauff since their first meeting at the 2023 French Open.<\/p>\n

Andreeva and Gauff traded characters in the second set. Gauff was more assertive at the net and played perhaps the cleanest, most assured set of her clay-court swing this year as Andreeva faded into the background. She often finds clarity on her forehand when she pairs it with the intent to move forward, and this was no exception.<\/p>\n

There were no emotional outbursts from Andreeva, only an absence of emotion that lasted until Gauff led 5-1 in the third set. Then, as against Sierra, Gauff became passive. Andreeva, free of pressure and with her coaching team shouting, \u201cYou can win this match!\u201d from the stands, came back online. She forced errors from Gauff\u2019s forehand, but ultimately wasn\u2019t aggressive enough to fully shake her opponent.<\/p>\n

\"Coco<\/p>\n

\n Coco Gauff is trying to make her forehand a more reliable shot. (Robert Prange \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Gauff may be having difficulties with her forehand and focus, but the three years in age and four years on tour that separate Gauff and Andreeva make a difference. Self-trust is not something that Gauff lacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to find the balance of being aggressive and not missing, and on some of those match points, I made unforced errors. But also just forgetting them. It\u2019s a missed opportunity, but that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t create another one,\u201d Gauff said in an interview on Tennis Channel.<\/p>\n

Late in the third set, Gauff fist-pumped after hard-fought points, even if she lost them. After Andreeva broke her to win her third straight game and make it 5-4, Gauff was confident her return game could carry her home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing when you\u2019re 5-1 and all of a sudden it\u2019s 5-4, but I also reminded myself I have a really good return percentage, I\u2019m one of the best on tour percentage-wise with that,\u201d Gauff said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers are on my side. I have to hope that they stick today.\u201d<\/p>\n

They did, after a 13-minute final game in which Andreeva saved two match points.<\/p>\n

Next up, Gauff faces Sorana C\u00eerstea, the Romanian who handed world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka her earliest loss at a tournament<\/a> in more than a year Saturday in Rome. At 36, C\u00eerstea is playing her final year on tour, meaning Gauff has plenty in common with her upcoming opponent, too. For different reasons, they share a similar mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just trying to not leave the court with regrets,\u201d Gauff said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the start of the French Open just over two weeks away, the defending champion is doing what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-666710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}