Coco Gauff came into 2025 like a rocket. She opened the year with five straight wins at the United Cup. That hot streak made her one of the top names to watch at the Australian Open. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned in tennis, it’s that momentum can change instantly. After her quarterfinal finish in Melbourne, the American’s form dipped. She played five tournaments across three continents and won just one match in each of them. But then came Madrid. On the clay, Gauff found her spark again and stormed into the final, her first WTA 1000 title match on this surface. It was a much-needed breakthrough. However, Aryna Sabalenka had other plans. What could Gauff have done differently?
The World No.1 started strong, winning 17 points in a row. But Gauff dug in. She fought back and even led 5-3 in the second set. The match turned into a rollercoaster from there. Gauff saved six break points and held her nerve as Sabalenka clawed back to 5-5. It all came down to a tense tiebreaker. Gauff had her chances. She even had a set point. But a double fault at the worst moment handed the match to Sabalenka.
Speaking after the loss, Gauff was honest about what went wrong. The 21-year-old told the WTA Tour, “1st serve % was really low. When you’re playing someone as aggressive as Aryna, you def have to put more 1st serves in the court. I wish I could’ve done that better. I had a set point in the 2nd set & couple chances in the tiebreak to go up.”
Let’s talk numbers. Sabalenka landed 69% of her serves. She won 68% of points on her first serve and 75% on her second. Gauff, meanwhile, landed just 55% of her first serves. She won 57% of those points and 53% on her second serve. Both hit two aces, but Gauff had eight double faults. Sabalenka had just two. Unforced errors? Sabalenka made 26. Gauff had 33.
And those double faults aren’t new. The 2023 US Open champ has been struggling with them for a while now. At Indian Wells this year, she hit 21 double faults in her very first match against Moyuka Uchijima. That wasn’t just a bad day. It’s been a season-long pattern. In 2024, she led the WTA Tour with 430 double faults in 71 matches. That’s an average of six per match.
Still, there were huge positives in Madrid. Coco Gauff took down Mirra Andreeva, who had just won back-to-back WTA 1000 titles. That was a big deal. And then she did the unthinkable. She bagelled Iga Swiatek on clay. That’s right — a 6-0 set against the Queen of Clay. It was Swiatek’s worst loss on clay since 2019.
Even Aryna Sabalenka gave Gauff her flowers after their match
Aryna Sabalenka expresses her happiness at Coco Gauff’s newfound form
There’s been a rivalry brewing between these two for a while. The head-to-head was 5-4 in Coco Gauff’s favor before Saturday’s final. She had beaten Aryna Sabalenka on clay back in 2021 at Rome, but the Belarusian flipped the script to level the playing field. Their 2023 US Open final remains one of the most memorable matches in recent years.
Gauff had dropped the first set 6-2 but came back with a roar to win the next two 6-3, 6-2. Sabalenka crumbled under pressure that day. But in Madrid, the roles reversed. This time, it was Sabalenka who held strong while Gauff blinked. But there was no bitterness. S
Sabalenka was classy in victory and praised Gauff for fighting through a rocky start to 2025. The World No.1 said, “Honestly I just love great battles and when I seem my opponent playing their best tennis it’s always brings it to another level and I enjoyed even more and I saw she was struggling a little in the beginning of the year, and I’m happy she made it to the finals and is finding her rhythm.”
They’ll meet again, probably soon, and probably in another big match. Next stop for both is Rome. The Italian Open begins Tuesday, and the clay season is heating up. Coco Gauff may have lost the final, but she’s finding her form again. Can she clean up the double faults and take the next step?
The post “Could Have Done That Better” – Coco Gauff Laments Missed Chances After Madrid Open Heartbreaker Against Aryna Sabalenka appeared first on EssentiallySports.
