Coco Gauff confirms reason behind new coach not attending China Open

With her Grand Slam season now behind her, Gauff has turned her attention to Beijing. She was recently asked about what she took away from working with MacMillan in New York, and whether he had joined her at the China Open.

“I’m still working with Gavin, but he’s not here because we started last minute so he had other plans for this part of the year,” she replied.

“We’ll be working with each other right when I get home from here. But it was a good learning experience.

“For me it was a tough challenge I think mentally more so than anything just, like, kind of losing trust in a lot of things, trying to find that in that tournament.

“But I really do think that it gives me confidence for the future. I mean, second week kind of having some really low moments on court.

“So I’m looking forward to now feeling refreshed and happy, feeling like I can trust myself all over again and see how I do with this mindset.”

Gauff explains her post-US Open training focus

Gauff is poised to start her Asian swing at the China Open, returning to an event where she has every reason to feel confident.

Last year, the 10-time WTA champion secured the tournament title by defeating Karolina Muchova with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 performance in the final.

Since then, though, a lot has changed for Gauff. She recently opened up about what she has been working on ahead of this part of the season following another US Open campaign.

“Yeah, I got to take a break. Then I’ve just been training in Florida.

“Yeah, I guess the focus is really just building for next year and treating this part of the swing kind of as a pre-season almost, which I did that last year.

“Ended up being successful, so we’ll see. Yeah, I think at this point of the year it’s always just looking at how to get better for next year.”

Gauff finished strong in 2024. Along with her win in Beijing, she also captured the WTA Finals title.

Currently, the 21-year-old holds the third position in this year’s Riyadh qualifying standings. Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have already locked in their spots in the season-ending event.