'Losing sucks' - Coco Gauff looking for swift response after tough run in Fort Worth - WTA Tour Finals Diary

Going 0-6 across singles and doubles this week in Fort Worth was certainly not what Coco Gauff had in mind but the 18-year-old phenom still has a chance to finish her year on a high as she joins her American team-mates in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals next week in Glasgow.

Gauff, who lost to Iga Swiatek on Saturday in her final round-robin clash of the tournament, is the youngest player to qualify for the WTA Finals in singles since Maria Sharapova in 2005, and added to that achievement by also qualifying in doubles.

At such a young age, Gauff is already a Grand Slam finalist in singles and doubles and arrived to Fort Worth ranked a career-high No. 4 in the world. She has every reason to head into the off-season feeling good about her 2022 campaign, but admits the string of losses she suffered on her WTA Finals debut really sting right now.

“It’s probably the worst week of the year for me," Gauff said. "I never lost so much so fast.

“It’s an adjustment I guess. Going to BJK Cup I think will be better, I have a team and team-mates who are ready to play.

“So I think right now my mindset is just on that and try not to dwell too much on this because I still have a team I need to be there for. So I’m kind of grateful I have that tournament because it would be an awful way to end the year on this.”

Gauff added: “It’s not even about the losses, it’s just some of the ways that I lost. I feel like I didn’t improve this week, I stayed stagnant. It’s been a rough week.”

The four players who had competed at the WTA Finals before all advanced to the singles semi-finals in Fort Worth, while the four tournament debutantes – Ons Jabeur, Gauff, Daria Kasatkina and Jessica Pegula – were all eliminated in the group stage.

Gauff will likely feature in the WTA Finals for many years to come and this tough debut could serve as a useful lesson for upcoming editions.

“It gives me a lot of motivation to do better because losing sucks. For me, I’m going to remember this feeling and use it to feel when I practice, use it to feel when I hopefully play this again,” said Gauff.

“It’s definitely an experience thing, especially when you lose your opening match I would say it’s the toughest. Because you know you probably have to win that next match to have a better shot at qualifying. I think next time I will try not to dwell too much, regardless if I won or lost the opening match.”

Swiatek, who played the WTA Finals for the first time last year in Guadalajara and was unable to reach the semis, explained how different it felt competing in the season-ending championships this time around.

“It’s totally different,” said world No. 1 Swiatek of how she feels this year at the Finals compared to 12 months ago. “Now I see that, because at the beginning of the tournament I wasn’t sure kind of how it works. For sure I feel right now there is a huge difference in my approach to the tournament. I feel more settled and prepared for the pressure and the expectations. This year also I didn’t waste a lot of energy on thinking about getting here because my spot was secure. You can see that it’s easier with experience for sure.”

A diehard Barcelona fan, Kasatkina noted on Saturday that it was a “s*** day” after she lost in the final-set tie-break of her clash with Caroline Garcia, missing out on a place in the semis in Fort Worth, while Barca legend Gerard Pique bid farewell to his club in an emotional retirement ceremony.

Kasatkina, who is represented by Kosmos, a sports management agency owned by the company founded by Pique, paid tribute to the Spanish footballer, referring to him as her “boss”.

“Gerard is obviously a legend of Barcelona and he’s one of the greatest players, for me, I think in the history of the club,” said Kasatkina, who chose Barcelona as her training base a few years ago.

“Unfortunately he had to finish in not the best way. But he brought to the club and to the fans so many amazing memories. When I started to follow Barca, he was a player so I remember him since the first days I supported the club.

“I’m kind of getting used to legends quitting Barca unfortunately. He had a great career and I wish him all the best.

“He’s kind of my boss as well because he owns the company that represents me. This chapter is closed, next one is going to be open. Probably it’s very tough for him now but he’s a great figure and I think he’s going to do everything well and I wish him all the best.”

“When you don’t want to lose, you squeeze everything you have left in your tank. This is what I was doing and now I feel absolutely empty because I squeezed everything I had left. It didn’t work today but I hope people enjoyed watching the match, watching this drama until the end.”

- Kasatkina describes how she felt after her gruelling 2hr 47min defeat to Garcia.

“Of course now I hate everything, I’m super disappointed, I don’t want to do anything. But of course I have to be objective and I have to see that this season was the best in my career, especially after what happened a few years ago. Trust me it’s better to experience this bad moment I’ve had now on the court than what I’ve had a few years ago outside of the court.”

- Kasatkina puts her loss in perspective as she reflects on her low moments from a few years ago when she contemplated quitting tennis.

- Kasatkina was 29-0 in matches in which she won the first set this season. That unblemished record was dented by Garcia on Saturday as the Frenchwoman defeated her 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).

- Garcia has now won 34 matches since June, the most on tour within that span.

- By defeating Gauff 6-3, 6-0, Swiatek delivered her 22nd bagel of the 2022 season.