{"id":1854168,"date":"2026-03-29T13:43:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1854168"},"modified":"2026-03-29T13:43:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:43:05","slug":"grateful-gauff-takes-positives-despite-tight-miami-open-defeat-to-sabalenka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1854168","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Grateful\u2019 Gauff takes positives despite tight Miami Open defeat to Sabalenka"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">\u2018Grateful\u2019 Gauff takes positives despite tight Miami Open defeat to Sabalenka<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/oliver-paton\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Oliver Paton                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"29 Mar 2026 2:43 PM\" data-ps-date=\"29 Mar 2026 2:43 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1774791785\"><br \/>\n                            29 Mar 2026 2:43 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"\u2018Grateful\u2019 Gauff takes positives despite tight Miami Open defeat to Sabalenka\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Coco-Gauff-speaks-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Coco Gauff speaks at the Miami Open\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Coco Gauff speaks                             <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Coco Gauff believes that the Miami Open allowed her to find \u2018momentum\u2019 after her Indian Wells retirement, despite the loss to Sabalenka in the final.<\/p>\n<p>The world No 4 fell to the Belarusian in a tight 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 clash, with Sabalenka becoming just the fifth woman to win both Indian Wells and Miami in the same season \u2013 completing the Sunshine Double.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/coco-gauff\">Gauff<\/a> had never previously progressed beyond the fourth round in Miami.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, I thought it was a good tournament overall,\u201d analysed the American during her post-match press conference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously today, it\u2019s tough to come home with this result. Yeah, I think I will learn a lot from today\u2019s match.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt like I could have did better in some moments, but that\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust happy to find some momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was significant doubt as to whether Gauff would even show up to the event, given she had retired against Alexandra Eala at 6-2, 2-0 in the third round of Indian Wells.<\/p>\n<p>During that match \u2013 as well as the prior round \u2013 she was seen regularly spraying errors and coughing up doubles faults, seemingly affected by arm pain.<\/p>\n<p>After undergoing an MRI, Gauff was found to have nerve damage and was, subsequently, advised to withdraw from the Floridian tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The world No 4 admitted that she would likely not have participated in the event if it had been held outside of the United States.<\/p>\n<h2>Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-rankings-serena-williams-record-miami-open-win\">Aryna Sabalenka eyeing up Serena Williams all-time rankings record after Miami Open win<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\/charleston-open-draw-jessica-pegula-looks-defend-title-bencic-keys-key-challengers\">Charleston Open Draw: Jessica Pegula looks to defend title as Bencic, Keys lead key challengers<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cYeah, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re necessarily shocked,\u201d the two-time Grand Slam champion stated after being asked whether her team were shocked by her successful campaign.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they know when I\u2019m in the right mindset I can do a lot of things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just wasn\u2019t in the right mindset leaving Indian Wells, so I think they were more protective of me, more so just making sure I didn\u2019t lose myself in the sport, and that\u2019s why they wanted the break.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019m a driven person, and I just wanted to play. I was, like, I live close.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel, like, you know, if this was in Europe somewhere, then I probably wouldn\u2019t have shown up, but this is in Miami, so I was just, worst case, if I lose, it\u2019s a 45-minute drive home versus flying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlso, I\u2019m saving money, not paying for a hotel, not paying hotel for my team, anything. I was, like, whatever, if I don\u2019t do well I\u2019m not losing too much on the losing end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, I think I just was more proven to prove them wrong, and I feel like that made me change my \u201cmindset and stopped me from being negative. I think there were rare times throughout the week I was being negative, and even when I did, I was able to snap out of it quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the mostly one-sided first set, Gauff dug deep to save two break points before breaking Sabalenka on to clinch the second and send the Miami crowd into a frenzy.<\/p>\n<p>However, the decisive moment in the match arrived in the opening game of the third set, with the American carrying all of the momentum and leading 30-love.<\/p>\n<p>A close deuce game would ultimately go Sabalenka\u2019s way, a lead which Gauff would not close.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, I\u2019m sure tactically what I did well. I\u2019ll probably try to redo it again,\u201d she analysed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, I think I\u2019m most disappointed about that first game in the third set of 30-Love, and with momentum from breaking her to win the set.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like that\u2019s an important game to win in that moment, especially because I felt I wasn\u2019t getting a lot of breaks, but I was making her play a lot of balls, considering how big her serve is.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, I think that\u2019s something I have to learn from in a moment. Yeah, I think in the second set I was just able to raise my level. I felt in the first I was letting her dictate a lot, which is tough because it\u2019s Aryna.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I thought in the second I was doing a lot of dictating and playing a bit more aggressive, making deeper returns and things like that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, that first game, I\u2019m a bit disappointed about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gauff will next play the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, which takes place from April 13 \u2013 19.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Grateful\u2019 Gauff takes positives despite tight Miami Open defeat to Sabalenka Oliver Paton 29 Mar 2026 2:43 PM Coco Gauff speaks Coco Gauff believes that the Miami Open allowed her to find \u2018momentum\u2019 after her Indian Wells retirement, despite the loss to Sabalenka in the final. The world No 4 fell to the Belarusian in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1854168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1854168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1854168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1854168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1854168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1854168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1854168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}