Coco Gauff has been on fire this season—leading her team to victory at the United Cup and charging into the Australian Open quarterfinals with undeniable flair. But tennis, as we know, isn’t just sunshine and wins. Her latest stop in Qatar? Let’s just say things didn’t go as planned. In a surprising twist, Gauff faced an early exit that left fans stunned. But here’s where it gets interesting—her opponent, Marta Kostyuk, wasn’t just there to play; she came with serious confidence after the match.

The Ukrainian star ousted the American tennis sensation in the latter’s opener match of the tournament itself in straight sets 6-2, 7-5. One of the key factors behind Gauff’s debacle was her struggle with forehand. In the first set, Gauff was broken three times besides the 3 double faults and 19 unforced errors fired by her. While she tried to improve her consistency in the second set, the series of double faults and unforced errors continued and eventually, the 20-year-old was left baffled. But besides the thrilling encounter, what caught the attention was cheeky remarks from Kostyuk after the match.

Speaking in the on-court interview, Kostyuk hailed her opponent’s resilience. However, she did not fail to add some cheeky spice to it. “I mean, Coco is an incredible fighter, we always have incredible matches. If you haven’t seen our match in Stuttgart, go on YouTube and watch it for sure,” she said. For the unversed, the only victory that Kostyuk pulled against Gauff so far was in the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Open last year, where she won in three sets. Continuing further, she expressed her happiness over ousting World No. 3. 

“A great one. I just tried to stick to what I had to do and I’m very happy it worked out in two sets. Very happy to be through to round of 16,” Kostyuk added. And there is enough reason for Kostyuk to express this confidence and joy. This was the first victory that the Ukrainian clinched over the 2023 US Open Champion on a hard court. Besides, she also reduced the head-to-head difference to 2-3. This victory will further boost her confidence for the remainder of the tournament as she will look forward to returning home with the glorious title. 

For Coco Gauff, Doha has continued to be a troublesome chapter. The American star now has a 4-4 record at the Qatar Open across four appearances. However, she will not be losing any points as she faced a similar fate last year as well, after losing to Katerina Siniakova in her opening match. But whatever the result may be, Gauff seems to have her goals set for the ongoing season, and it’s nothing but reaching the top spot.

Coco Gauff opens up on her plans to become World No. 1

Coco Gauff depicted some sensational games towards the end of the season last year. She not only won the title in Beijing but also stunned top players like Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka to win the WTA Finals in Riyadh. These victories seem to have increased her confidence for the ongoing season as she sets her sights on the No. 1 spot in the ranking table. 

Speaking about the same in an interaction with Sky Sports Tennis Podcast, Gauff made her plans clear for the season. “I think just improving and seeing where it goes. For me, the points thing is just, first of all, too mathematical. I don’t know how people come up with all these different scenarios. Like it’s pretty impressive,” she said highlighting how difficult it gets for her to understand the ranking scenarios. Continuing further, she reflected that she would definitely desire to reach the spot outshining her counterparts. 

“I think I just focus on trying to win, and you know the ranking comes with it, so just trying to do my best to win, and obviously, the goal would be to be No. 1, that would be awesome, but it’s not something that I’m like looking or checking every week to see how far I am from it.” she added. For now, it will be interesting to see how Gauff comes out from the disappointment of her defeat in Qatar and how she performs moving forward.