COCO GAUFF: “I love playing tennis; It’s a life long passion and I don’t regret following what I love.” She adds “I know I will bounce back from the disappointments I have had.”

After an early exit at the U.S Open, Coco Gauff is taking time away from competition to put herself through grueling physical training. Recently, she shared a glimpse into what her latest fitness session looked like, admitting that she was glad she opted to play tennis instead of pursuing a career in track and field.

For Gauff, 2024 has brought a mixed bag of performances. Her year got off to a winning start, as she claimed the title at the ASB Classic before following it up with a semifinal appearance at the Australian Open. In the next couple of months, she made a handful of other semifinal runs, including one at the French Open.However, Coco Gauff’s form stumbled after an early exit at Wimbledon, and she’s failed to make it past the round of 16 matches in the four tournaments she’s played since. Now, the American is working on her fitness levels away from the court.

In a recent Instagram story, she shared a picture of herself lying on the ground in exhaustion, alongside a recap of her training session for the day. She wrote,

“8 sets of 100M, 3 sets of 400, 200, 100 and 6 sets of 25M. 20-30 secs rest in between sets. 3 mins in between rounds. All right after a 2 hour tennis practice and 94 degrees outside & 104 on the track/court. #happysaturday glad I didn’t choose track, too hard out here for this chile. @feliperamirezluna_ may or may not have sat out for a few sets.”

At the US Open, Coco Gauff entered as the defending champion with high expectations of a repeat performance. However, the third seed was shown the door by eventual semifinalist and 13th seed Emma Navarro, going down 3-6, 6-4, 3-6.

Reflecting on her performance in New York and past few losses, Gauff told Tennis.com:

“I guess for me, yeah, it’s not the summer that I want. I feel like there’s 70 other players in the draw that would love to have the summer that I had, even though it’s probably the (worst I’ve) done during this time of the year. So many people want to be in the fourth round. So many people want to make the Olympics. So many people want to be flag bearer. It’s perspective.”

She went on to add that while she was disappointed with her performance, she was confident of better performances ahead.

“Obviously because I’m wanting to reach a different level, it is disappointing, but I’m not going to beat myself up and be, like, this was so bad. Yeah, I expect better, but at the end of the day it happened, and I know I can turn it around.

After the US Open, Coco Gauff slipped down to sixth in the WTA Rankings. She is next scheduled to compete at the China Open in Beijing.