‘I’m former Open champion – Gauff ready to win | Sports News

Former doubles U.S. Open champion Coco Vandeweghe believes Coco Gauff will win at Indian Wells and rediscover her groove ahead of a busy 2025 Open season. Gauff, 20, hasn’t managed to win a second Grand Slam since her 2023 U.S. Open singles win, and her best finish since was the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open.

Indian Wells will be Gauff‘s first stateside tournament this year, and it’s a prestigious competition the American team has yet to win. However, despite her woes since being crowned U.S. Open champion in late 2023, fellow compatriot Vandeweghe is confident Gauff will win this month and take the Indian Wells singles crown off Iga Swiatek.

“This event really suits her,” Vandeweghe said in an appearance on the Tennis Channel. “I think that she really enjoys playing here. We saw her last year come in a little bit shaky, but there was so much conversation about her forehand, about her game in general.

“But I think now that she has kind of taken a couple of lumps in the Middle East, I think that will help her coming in here, because she does really play so well when she is playing with that little bit of grit, when the doubters and haters start coming out.

“And I think she is ready to win this title, but I would like to see the first couple of matches to kind of put my stamp of approval of taking home the title, or going home without it.”

Gauff’s first matchup is scheduled for Saturday against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima. She’s trying to shake off back-to-back defeats in Doha and Dubai to Marta Kostyuk and fellow American McCartney Kessler. However, Gauff isn’t too focused on those losses.

“Everybody makes a bigger deal than what it is, I lost two matches,” she said. “Everyone is, like, `Oh, she’s sinking.’ OK, we’ve been through this.

“I’ll pick it back up. But at the end of the day, yeah, I was upset that I lost, but it’s a loss. It’s going to happen again. I’m going to lose back-to-back again. Hopefully it doesn’t happen too many times in my career.”

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Gauff will compete on a new surface at Tennis Paradise following a provider change. The American has hinted that the new surface could play into her hands.

“The ball doesn’t bounce as much for us who play with more spin,” Gauff added. “In Dubai, I mean, I’m not using excuses, it’s just being real, some conditions don’t favor certain people. Whereas maybe here it’s a little bit better for us who hit with more spin because the ball bounces on the court more.”