Coco Gauff dismissed claims that her Miami Open exit was influenced by extra pressure to do well in her home tournament as the American tennis star underlined that she didn’t feel any nerves going into her match against Caroline Garcia.
Gauff, who was born in Delray Beach, Florida, is a local in Miami and it is not a secret that came to this year’s tournament hoping to win her first title. But on Monday, third-seeded Gauff’s Miami run ended in the round-of-16 following a 3-6 6-1 2-6 loss to Garcia.
In the majority of WTA 1000 level tournaments, Gauff has had at least one deep run. But when it comes to Miami, Gauff has yet to make a really notable run. Now, the American has two round-of-16 showings in Miami – one third-round outing – and twice she lost in the second round.
When reflecting on her loss to Garcia, Gauff acknowledged there wasn’t much consistency and admitted that getting broken in the second game of the third set played a big role in how the decider went.
“The match basically was an up-and-down match. She played aggressive, which I knew coming in. I think it was really important for me to just change the height of the ball, and I did that well for the majority of the second set,” Gauff said.
“Then starting off the third with an early break I…
