“I’ll probably go home and try to reset,” Coco Gauff remarked after the Cincinnati Masters’ first round exit. The defeat came as an enormous blow for the 20-year-old, who was a victor at the tournament last year. “I feel like I have to work on consistency, overall,” she stated, outlining her goals for the upcoming US Open. Despite her recent struggles, Gauff’s dedicated supporter, Chris Evert, remains optimistic about her chances of a successful title defense.

Since her semifinal defeat in Berlin against her doubles’ partner, Jessica Pegula, the seven singles titlist is experiencing a rough patch on-court. A round of 16 defeat against Emma Navarro at Wimbledon followed by a third-round loss in the Olympics raised eyebrows about her back-to-back insufficient performances. Moreover, doubts regarding her upcoming US Open tournament sprung up, too. However, Evert refused to pay heed to those noises. Instead, the 18 Grand Slam champion highlighted the underlying story, including the “overwhelming” and grueling 2024 season.

In an August 21 interview with Good Morning America, Evert opened up about battling ovarian cancer for the second time and her preparation to return to work at the U.S. Open this summer. Shortly after, the discussion turned to Gauff, the reigning US Open champ. Highlighting the fact that Gauff winning the tournament in 2023 at age 19 made her the youngest American champion at the event since Serena Williams in 1999, the host quizzed Evert, “What are her (Gauff’s) chances for a repeat?”

Evert firmly responded by pointing out how “All the top players are a little cranky right now. Because they have had a challenging, challenging year. They played a lot more tournaments and then throw in the Olympics and all that excitement.” Furthermore, she referred to Gauff’s flag-bearing ceremony at the Paris Olympics for the first time and underlined the tiring aspect of the tennis players. 

“Coco was carrying the flag, and she was getting all the autographs and meeting all these people. I knew she wasn’t going to do great at the Olympics because it was just overwhelming. Everybody is a little tired right now.” As Evert noted, Gauff’s demanding schedule, which included participation in 17 tournaments this year, may contribute to fatigue.

However, the six-time US Open champion has faith in the energizing crowd of New York that can act as a catalyst to propel Gauff forward. “But the one good thing about the New York crowd is that it brings out the best in American players. I do not count Coco out. I think she can win another one.”

Much like Evert, the former tennis player Monica Puig also shared a similar opinion on how the Olympics might have affected her form in Paris. “I know the Olympics was a lot for her–from being the flag bearer [to] being around LeBron. All the buzz was pretty much on her from the get-go,” she said during the Tennis Channel Live Podcast (episode of August 15). Puig suggested that Gauff might need to adjust her strategy to successfully defend her US Open title.

Monica Puig opens up on how Coco Gauff can “start fresh” in the US Open

When Yulia Putintseva defeated Gauff in the opening round at Cincinnati, Coco Gauff spoke about her shortcomings after the match. “I made a lot of errors, especially when I was up 4-2 (in the third set). I think most of the points she won were off my errors.” However, as per Puig, Gauff needs to concentrate on working on the psychological aspect as well and rebuild her momentum on-court gradually. “I would love to see her make a mental reset. We know the type of tennis she can play.”

The former WTA player continued, “She needs to focus on serving well, playing the aggressive game style. But, maybe put the US Open and what happened last year behind and start fresh and just build from there.” As the US Open begins in less than a week, all eyes will be on Coco Gauff as she tries to take the tennis world by storm once again!