MIAMI — Coco Gauff has won two Grand Slams, a WTA Finals and three WTA 1000 tournaments.
For all her success on hard courts, and the fact that the Miami Open is her home tournament, she’s never found much success in Miami Gardens. In six appearances dating back to 2019, when she was just 15 years old, the World No. 4 has never made it past the fourth round at Hard Rock Stadium.
Now 22, she returns to the site of her first WTA Tour main-draw win — a three-set comeback against Caty McNally — with a clearer sense of what’s missing.
“This is obviously a bucket-list tournament for me,” Gauff told reporters on Tuesday.
Gauff can’t quite explain why she hasn’t performed to her standard at this tournament, which is a commutable distance from her Delray Beach home. She used to stay at home during the tournament, then experimented with staying at a hotel closer to the site to see if that would improve her routine and results. Neither worked, she says with a laugh, so she’s reverted to staying at home.
Gauff will have plenty of family in the crowd this week, which she loves — except when they’re asking about her match times.
“They’re like, ‘When do you play? What time do you play?'” she said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I’ll probably find out 10 minutes before you guys, so just look online.’ This is the week where I kind of have to sometimes just shut off my phone. But I love playing this tournament and yeah, it means a lot whenever I’m able to step on these courts.”
It means so much that Gauff has decided to play despite suffering a left arm injury last week in Indian Wells. The American retired early in the second set of her fourth-round match against Alexandra Eala, and immediately underwent an MRI after. (“I feel like that’s what a coffin would feel like,” she deadpanned.)
She said she considered skipping the Miami Open, and likely would have had the injury occurred at a different point in the calendar. But because it’s Miami, she decided to power through.
Thankfully, she’s recovered well and is optimistic about her level heading into her opening match.
“I think it was a nerve thing,” she explained. “… Every day it’s different, but I think for the most part I will be fine playing this tournament. I might feel it sometimes on court, but I definitely feel it less and less every day.”
Seeded fourth, Gauff will receive a first-round bye. She’ll play either Elisabetta Cocciaretto or a qualifier in the second round.
