‘I’ve never been a rankings girl’ — Coco Gauff praises Jasmine Paolini for Italian Open win despite tough defeat

Coco Gauff was defeated by Jasmine Paolini in straight sets at this season’s Italian Open. Despite her disappointing loss, Gauff showed respect to her opponent, who defeated her in straight sets. 

The American praised her opponent, expressing, “Congrats, Jasmine, on this incredible achievement. You’re an incredible person and player. It’s always tough playing you. Good luck in the doubles final. I hope you guys can take it home.” 

She added, “Jasmine played great tennis today. I think it was one of her best levels today. I also didn’t play my best level. I think it’s both. It’s not to discredit my opponent. She forced me to play that way… Yeah, maybe I could have served better and put more balls in the court, could [have played] better. I definitely could and can. But she played to win today, and she deserved to win.”

Gauff’s athletic performance 

Coco Gauff has lost two finals in a row to Aryna Sabalenka, but she still managed to have an impressive comeback to World No. 3 after her thrilling performance in Rome. The athlete is now finding her form once again, just in time for the French Open. She is now focused on turning things around, regardless of her slow start to the season. 

With the changes to her WTA rankings, Gauff has set her sights on winning Grand Slams. She admitted, “I’ve never been a rankings girl. Really, I want to just win Grand Slams… My dad always said, ‘The number, the ranking will come with the Slams.’ So I think for me, I’m looking more at winning Slams. And if I win a Slam this year and don’t become number one, I will be satisfied. I’ll be more satisfied than if I became number one and didn’t win a Slam.”

Gauff declared, “I think just accepting the highs and lows. I think sometimes in sports you want to just stay on the high and kind of ride that wave, but especially with this sport, a season as long as tennis, it’s impossible to always be on that high wave, and there’s going to be some low moments, I think.” 

“Just trying to stick through those tough moments and get better through them. Not feeling like the rest of the season is going to go that way. I feel like I’m able to turn it around. It’s happened before. I think it just takes one or two matches to kind of get that confidence back.

When you’re coming off a good start to the season, you don’t look to maintain it. I feel like I try to treat each part of the season in different sections. So, regardless of [whether] something good or bad happens, it’s a chance to reset,” she added. 

In social media, Gauff posted, “Thank you, Rome ❤️🥲 I’ll come back stronger”

Netizens flooded the comments with praise and encouragement for Coco Gauff, calling her a fighter and expressing pride in her performance. Many urged her to stay strong and bring her best to the upcoming French Open. One user wrote, “So proud of you. Such a fighter. Making it to the finals is fabulous!!!!! Keep fighting!” while another added, “Bring it all for the French. We want the slams. Save your energy for the slammssss.” 🫶🏾🎾”