Gauff takes French Open ‘motivation’ from Madrid, Rome losses

PARIS: Coco Gauff believes she can use the disappointment of her recent runner-up finishes on clay in Madrid and Rome as motivation for her French Open campaign.

Gauff is coming off back-to-back defeats to world number one Aryna Sabalenka and Italy´s Jasmine Paolini respectively in the finals of both Roland Garros warm-up tournaments.

But the 21-year-old Gauff, a French Open junior champion in 2018, believes she has what it takes to go one step further in Paris.

She played her first Grand Slam final at senior level against Iga Swiatek at the 2022 French Open, losing in straight sets.

A year after that, she won the US Open title.

“I think immediately after it was a tough feeling for me,” Gauff recalled Friday of her French Open runner-up finish three years ago.

“I just felt like maybe I could never overcome that. Then I just turned it into motivation.

“I knew that, I don´t know, just had a deep-down gut (feeling) that I was going to be in a final position again. I was like, I´m not going to go out like that.

“If I go out, I´m going to leave with my head held high. So I was able to approach that US Open final differently.

“But I definitely think I needed that finals loss to reach this point, for sure.”

In Paris, Gauff opens against 93rd-ranked Australian Olivia Gadecki on the red clay surface she is comfortable on and also won the Roland Garros doubles title last year alongside Katerina Siniakova.

“Honestly, I feel like when I was young, I just played on it,” said Gauff.

“I feel like at that time I didn´t gauge surfaces or anything. I felt like I should just be good at everything.

“I definitely think it´s something that I´m comfortable on. I mainly credit it to me probably sliding a lot on a hard court so when I go on clay it just feels a lot easier.”

As for her results on clay this season, Gauff said: “It definitely gives me a lot of confidence, but I think I´m just putting those results in the past and focusing on the next two weeks here.”