WTA: Cori Gauff - creative break or first real crisis?
Cori Gauff lost in two sets against MariaSakkar i in the round of 16 in Rome on Thursday. The initially rapid rise of the American has come to a standstill.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: May 14, 2022, 05:19 pm
As a preamble, it should be noted that Cori Gauff is still only 18 years old. And that a defeat against Maria Sakkari is of course not a shame. The Greek is currently fourth in the WTA world rankings. However, the way this bankruptcy came about late Thursday afternoon in the Foro Italico follows a well-known pattern. And raises the question of whether the American, who has risen like a comet at first, has reached a point in her young career at the moment where she has to change something fundamental.
And that starts on serve. The statistics showed only five double faults in the match against Sakkari, but Gauff trembled with almost every throw-in. And the really big weapon wasn't the first service with 61.5 percent points won - if it hit the target. Which was only 52.7 percent the case.
Gauff will drop three places in the WTA world rankings after being eliminated by Sakkari, last year she reached the semi-finals in Rome. Of course, position 18 is still worthy of all honor. And Cori Gauff remains the youngest player to make the top 100.
But: there have been hardly any improvements in the game over the past two years. The attempted drop shots against Maria Sakkari were invitations to a direct point for the Greeks, so high and so far they sailed into the field. Father Corey took note of this rather stoically in the box. And, as usual, wore a cap with the logo of Patrick Mouratoglou's tennis academy. To what extent the Frenchman is still involved in the development of Cori Gauff is difficult to judge from afar. Mouratoglou is currently committed to Simona Halep.
Serena Williams does not win 24th major title
But the example of Gauff in particular raises the question of what the great mastery of the coach is, in whose training center players like Stefanos Tsitsipas or currently Holger Rune come and go. As a constant companion of Serena Williams, Mouratoglou has received Grand Slam honors, but the extent to which he really made the American icon better and, especially in the late phase, can be questioned. Because Serena's futile attempts to finally win the 24th major title are known to have been fatal in 2018 and 2019 in the finals of Wimbledon (against Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep) and in New York City (against Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu ) went into the pants.
Cori Gauff would take part in the final of one of the four biggest events of a tennis year at any time, alone, after the results of the season so far, the imagination is missing. In Adelaide, the teenager reached the semi-finals of the second tournament, but lost there to Madison Keys. In the quarter-finals in Doha it was over against Sakkari. And in the Round of 16 in Miami, Gauff had to settle for four game wins against Iga Swiatek.
There is a lot to do for Cori Gauff. And it will be exciting to see who will set the tone in the future.
Here the single tableau in Rome
rommap