Coco Gauff has been plagued by poor form. The American has endured back-to-back losses ever since her semifinal showdown against Iga Swiatek at the French Open. Reason? It has been lowkey voiced by Swiatek. The Pole has hinted that the young talent’s drop in performance stems from the same reason she has been running on all fumes on the circuit.

The World No. 1 is currently in action at the Cincinnati Open. In the event’s opener, Swiatek registered a hard-fought victory over Varvara Gracheva in three sets, 6-0, 6-7(8), 6-2. Later, in the successive round, the Pole thrashed Marta Kostyuk in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. While talking in a post-match presser with the ‘Tennis Channel’ after her second-round showdown, the Pole had some keen things to say about the players’ hectic schedule and Gauff’s probable burnout.

While in discussion with the host, Swiatek conservatively said no when asked if she was privy to any ‘downtime’ after making back-to-back appearances on the Tour. She said, “You’re not gonna rest-fully when you even have even like two days off in the week. Obviously, we’ll need more time to really reset properly…” The Pole notably highlighted that the WTA’s overwhelming touring schedule inhabits any window for recovery, which can be a potential factor for Gauff’s inconsistent performances. “It’s tough on everybody our schedule is crazy and everybody knows that and it’s getting even more crazy so good luck to us…You don’t have much time to reset, even after this Olympics.”

Moreover, this isn’t the first time a player has expressed their reservations about the circuit’s hectic timetable. Notably, ATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas was discontent with tournaments’ inculcating Grand Slams’ two-week draw format that leads to potential injuries caused due to exhaustion. Later, Canadian Open semifinalist Matteo Arnaldi also outlined the circuit’s relentless schedule.

At Wimbledon, Gauff made it to the R4, before Emma Navarro got the better of her. Meanwhile, at the season’s Olympics, Gauff’s gold medal hopes came down crashing after she lost all her contests in the event’s premature stages. The World No. 2’s hopes of restoring her form also bore no fruition after suffering an early round exit at the WTA Toronto and now, the American’s title defense in Cincy was also unsuccessful. She was flushed out in the event’s opening round. This, in turn, prompted her to term the reason behind her shock defeat.

Gauff cites that her Cincy downfall ‘came off’ of 50 unforced errors

Gauff arrived at Cincinnati on the back four tour-level losses to lower-ranked players dating back to the French Open. She is far from her best performance. While there can be several contributing factors to the American talent’s poor form, she reserved a few words to address her recent string of losses after declining a press conference.

She said, “I feel like I have to work on consistency, overall. I’ll probably go home and try to reset. 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.” It is worth noting that Gauff made 50 unforced errors, including nine double faults during her opening-round contest against Kazakh Yulia Putintseva. Furthermore, she will now drop one spot to World No. 3 next week.

This defeat was a big blow to the 20-year-old’s preparations for the US Open where she will bid to retain her title from last year. However, with both her warm-up event performances up in smoke, Gauff will have to work to the bone to preserve her defending champion status at Flushing Meadows. What are your thoughts on her chances at the hardcourt Slam? Do let us know in the comment section below.