Coco Gauff self-critical as she has ‘loads of work to do’ after Wimbledon exit

Coco Gauff has shared her frustration after struggling a shock upset within the first spherical of Wimbledon. The No 7 seed had been tipped to go far on the grass courts at SW19 however crashed out to compatriot Sofia Kenin 6-4 4-6 6-2.

Gauff had a tricky attract Kenin, regardless of the American being ranked down at No 128 on this planet. The 24-year-old beforehand gained the 2020 Australian Open and reached the French Open remaining that yr however has since struggled for kind and needed to qualify for Wimbledon.

Nonetheless, it was the largest upset of day certainly one of The Championships. And after the match, Gauff obtained candid as she was left feeling like she hadn’t labored laborious sufficient.

“I mean, I knew it was going to be a tough first round for me,” the 19-year-old mentioned. “I tried my best, but it wasn’t enough. I think I have a lot to work on if I want to improve from this.”

The three-time title winner added: “Right now I’m very frustrated and disappointed. So, yeah, I think it makes me want to work even harder. I feel like I have been working hard, but clearly it’s not enough.

“I have to go back to the drawing board and see where I need to improve and how to do the right drills to do that.” But Gauff nonetheless felt there have been components of her sport that labored on Monday regardless of Kenin stepping it up within the rallies.

“Definitely taking care of my service games,” she mentioned when requested what she’d work on. “I do think I’m a better server than her, but I think she took care more of the plus-ones and plus-twos a lot better than I did. Obviously my forehand. I mean, being more aggressive on those shots. I think I made too many errors on my forehand and backhand today.”

Gauff continued to critique her sport as she mentioned: “I mean, a lot of the points she won, I believe, I didn’t look at the stats or anything, were a lot off of unforced errors that I made. I mean, I think I didn’t really put too much pressure on her. I felt like she could make a ball on the court, didn’t have to be as good, and I wouldn’t do much with it. That’s what happened.

“If I played too passive, she has a game where she can hit aggressive shots, especially off the backhand side. I think I just – I don’t know. I have to watch the match. Those are my immediate thoughts that I felt on the court.”

Gauff continues to be within the doubles draw with Jessica Pegula and mentioned: “Honestly, I haven’t really thought about that, so… I mean, obviously the goal would be to win in doubles, but I haven’t really thought about it.”