Coco Gauff after Indian Wells loss: "It's not as bad as it seems"

Coco Gauff described her mindset after losing to Belinda Bencic in the fourth round at Indian Wells.

Mar 12, 2025; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Coco Gauff (USA) reacts after missing a shot against Belinda Bencic (not pictured) in round four of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Well Tennis Garden. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Coco Gauff turns 21 years old tomorrow, but she will be celebrating her birthday at home in Florida with her family instead of competing in the desert. That is what she told the media after suffering an early exit at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Gauff improved over her first two matches of the WTA 1000 Masters event, and showed more progress today with her serve. Ultimately, it was not enough, as the 3-seed Gauff unseeded Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.

Gauff is now 11-4 in the season and said she is not concerned about any mounting pressure. The World No. 3 was asked if she had any reasons for her "slump."

first set ✅@CocoGauff plays the important points well to grab the opener 6-3 against Bencic!#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/bTYtFimEdz

— wta (@WTA) March 12, 2025

Gauff answered, "I mean, overall I feel like, I mean, it's not as bad as it seems, I guess. I mean, start of the year, I did well at United Cup and lost to Paula [Badosa] fourth round in Australia. Middle East wasn't a great swing for me."

A reporter later corrected Gauff, reminding her that she lost in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open. Her reference to the United Cup was her win over Iga Swiatek to win tournament MVP and the Middle East Swing was an 0-2 campaign in Doha and Dubai.

Gauff continued, "Here, I mean, I lost 6-4 in the third in the fourth round against a tough opponent who's coming off a 500 win. Obviously, I wanted to do better, want to have better results, but it's not something I can crush myself on."

You know it's a good shot when you get your opponent's applause 👏@BelindaBencic | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/sTJnVlz99h

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 12, 2025

She concluded, "I'm trying to do better, and that's all I can do. I'm trying to work on things in practice, and unfortunately, right now, it's not translating how I'd like to."

As for why she lost, Gauff believes she could have been more aggressive, like when she faced Bencic in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Gauff said, "I think today the difference was she's a bit more aggressive than I was. In those moments in Australia, I stepped up my game to be more aggressive the last two sets. She kind of did that to me."

She added, "Overall, like, the match is kind of won and lost off of very small margins. Today didn't go my way, but I think there is a lot of things I can improve on to do better next time."

Wild Card ➡️ Quarterfinalist #TennisParadise | @BelindaBencic pic.twitter.com/KkiUIGHdTm

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 12, 2025

Gauff will return home to Florida, where she gets some much-needed rest and relaxation before returning to the drawing board on parts of her game.

Her campaign at the Miami Open will be especially busy for her as she is promoting the upcoming launch of another New Balance tennis shoe.

Bencic returned to the WTA Tour in January, after giving birth to her daughter less than a year ago. She won the Abu Dhabi Open in February. She will face Madison Keys tomorrow in the quarterfinal of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

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