Coco Gauff is "a bit disappointed" after beating Maria Sakkari

Coco Gauff wants to keep improving despite getting a win against Maria Sakkari at Indian Wells.

Mar 10, 2025; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Coco Gauff (USA) hits a shot as she defeated Maria Sakkari (not pictured) in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Well Tennis Garden. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Entering Monday, Coco Gauff and Maria Sakkari had split their eight prior matches. Additionally, their third-round match would be their third consecutive meeting in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

The 3-seed Gauff defeated Sakkari in an uneven two-set match: 7-6(1), 6-2. Gauff looked much better than her sloppy win against Moyuka Uchijima on Saturday. However, the match wasn't without some rough moments.

Gauff hit two aces and double-faulted nine times, six of which came in the final game. Sakkari was not immune to windy conditions, hitting two aces and six double faults.

After the match, Gauff addressed the matter. "Today was tough conditions; it was a bit windy. So, we were both trying to adjust."

Gauff spoke about her effort to close out the match, "Except the last game, I thought I played a great match. Trying to look at the positives."

She concluded, "Obviously, a bit disappointed with the last game, but that's just the perfectionist in me. It gives me positives. It's better than the last match, and hopefully, I can do even better in the next one."

When asked what she would take away from today's match, Gauff said, "Just the resilience, I guess, the conditions were tough.

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The ball was moving a lot. But overall, it was better than the previous match. I'm just trying to keep getting better as each round goes."

She concluded, "I lost to Maria here last year in the semifinals, so it felt good to get a little revenge today. Even though I love her."

Gauff is currently the WTA World No. 3 with a record of 11-3 with one title. She will face Belinda Bencic in the Round of 16 on Tuesday, March 11.

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