Coco Gauff’s defeat at the hands of Barbora Krejcikova has raised eyebrows! Gauff looked in supreme touch in the WTA Finals before this match. She won her two previous matches in straight sets, and everyone expected this match to be a cakewalk, but Krejcikova had other plans.

Not only was this a disappointing result for Gauff, but with this defeat, the reigning champion, Iga Swiatek, has now also been shockingly eliminated from the WTA Finals. And Eurosport commentator Lech Sidor seems miffed by Gauff’s performance!

Iga Swiatek managed to beat Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes. However, Coco Gauff went down against Krejcikova 5-7,4-6. This resulted in the heartbreak of the Polish fans. One among those fans was, perhaps, Sidor. He vented his frustration on X while summing up Coco Gauff’s performance in some really strong words!

Sharing his thoughts on the World No. 3 on his X handle, Lech Sidor wrote, “And the whole elaborate plan in the f–k, @CocoGauff engaged like an intern at the cash register in 🐞 , no comment, just remind me: what’s her ranking? 🤦🏼‍♀️ , kudos to @BKrejcikova – she kept her nerves in check and proved that she plays very fair tennis! 👈” [Translated by Google]

Barbora Krejcikova, in the meantime, showed her excitement after winning against Coco Gauff, as she said, “Well I was definitely super excited to be here, to come here, to qualify to play against the best ones…I think definitely for me, it’s a big thing that it’s the last tournament of the season.” Iga Swiatek, on the other hand, wasn’t aware that her win against Kasatkina wouldn’t secure her a spot in the SF.

During the post-match press conference, a journalist asked her, “Did you realize going in this match would have no bearing on your advancement to the semi-finals?” In reply to that, the former World No. 1 said, “Umm, you mean it didn’t matter? Why did it not?” The journalist then explained the scenario to her and informed her about the unfortunate end to her title defense in Riyadh. 

Coming back to Coco Gauff, she might have lost to Krejcikova, but her overall performance at the WTA Finals has been exemplary. With two back-to-back wins over Jessica Pegula and Iga Swiatek, respectively, she made it to the final 4 despite a slip-up against Krejcikova.

Coco Gauff hit back at the critics after beating Iga Swiatek

Coco Gauff‘s 2024 season has been a mixed bag! Although she has managed to win two titles this season, there have been multiple instances when she has erred on crucial occasions. As a result, she has faced a lot of criticism from the fans as well! Although this defeat to Krejcikova didn’t decide her fate in the WTA Finals, it did decide her opponent in the next match.

She will face Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal now rather than Qinwen Zheng. Currently, their H2H record is well-balanced at 4-4! Who’ll inch forward in their ninth encounter? Time will tell, but Gauff has proven a point in Riyadh already, with an emphatic win over World No. 2 Iga Swiatek.

Speaking after her second consecutive win in Riyadh, Gauff said, “Obviously I don’t win all the time but specifically today I got a lot of comments on how I was gonna lose badly [to Swiatek] today. So I was like, ‘Okay, we’ll see! So yeah, honestly it’s just liking the idea of proving people wrong and letting your racquet do the talking. I use it as motivation. Before, I used it as pressure, the expectations are always going to be there for me and I kinda turned it into the thing that, ‘People are expecting so much from you that means people see potential in you so you should see the potential in yourself.”

She further revealed how she now tricks her mind into using people’s criticism as motivation. “I think it’s just training your mind to think these things, whether that’s how the person intended it, probably not. But, if you trick your mind, it’s crazy you know how your mind’s daily mindset and daily thoughts and decisions can change,“ Gauff added.

Criticism is nothing new to Gauff. She has received critical comments multiple times during the last few years. But she has now learned how to tackle it effectively, and it’s helping her career evolve. Do you think Coco Gauff can shut all the critics by winning the title at the WTA Finals? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.