Coco Gauff’s US Open campaign came to a disappointing end on Sunday afternoon as she suffered a bruising 6-3 6-2 defeat to Naomi Osaka in the fourth round. Gauff hit a staggering 33 unforced errors during the one-hour and four-minute contest, and failed to create a single break point opportunity.
Afterwards, Gauff explained that she “broke down” to her team before they gave her a renewed perspective on her run in Flushing Meadows. The world No. 3 is now keen to work on her game before defending her title in Beijing at the end of the month, but retired tennis star Tim Henman believes Gauff needs to take a proper break from tennis.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the 2023 champion bowed out in the last 16, Henman said: “When you talk about someone being in the zone, that’s when you’ve got that really clear mindset, and Osaka had that.
“When you think about the other end of the court with Gauff, it just looks like she’s so confused out there. It’s so stressful.
“She’s focusing so much on her serve, as we all are, when you’ve got that type of mindset, it’s very difficult to play your best tennis, especially against a world-class player who is making life difficult for you.”
Gauff’s serving struggles have been well-documented. Ahead of the US Open, she got rid of her coach, Matt Daly, and hired Gavin MacMillan, the biomechanic specialist who helped world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka with her own problems on serve.
It had also been a stressful tournament for Gauff, who burst into tears on the court during her second-round win over Donna Vekic and cried again during the on-court interview. Now, former world No. 4 Henman wants to see the 21-year-old take some time away to regroup.
“Gauff is such a good competitor, but you saw at the end of the match that she couldn’t wait to get off that court quick enough,” he added.
“We’ve seen the emotion on the court, in tears at times. It’s been almost traumatic at times. She needs a little bit of time away from this environment to decompress and contemplate her next move.”
While Gauff isn’t planning to spend an extended period of time on the sidelines, she is planning to use the rest of the season as something of a training block to improve ahead of the 2026 Australian Open in January, and won’t be worrying about her results.
“I have no choice but to do a training block between now and Beijing, just the next tournament I’m signed up for,” she said after losing to Osaka.
“I’ve said this every year. After the US Open, for me, it’s just improvement mode to get ready for Australia.”
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