Coco Gauff column: Australian Open defeat sucked but talking is learning
- Published
Coco Gauff, who shot to fame by reaching the Wimbledon last 16 as a 15-year-old in 2019, is the latest leading WTA Tour player to write a BBC Sport column.
In her latest piece at the Australian Open, the American seventh seed talks about how she bounces back from a tough defeat like the one she suffered against Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round.
My immediate feelings after I lost in the singles were, of course, disappointment and frustration.
I was feeling disappointed because I felt like I played well - I was decent on the stats for the most part - but Jelena Ostapenko was just better.
And I felt frustration because I was feeling good in the tournament and to lose when you're feeling good makes it extra annoying.
But, overall, I do think I improved in this tournament and I played some of the best stuff I've played in a while.
This experience will motivate me to come back stronger.
Learning from the hard losses is the only thing you can do. If you try to forget about it then you will never learn and never improve.
I usually analyse a loss the day after because it is always tough when you're fresh off the court - it seems like you've done everything wrong. Losing in a major feels way worse than any other tournament.
Immediately after the match, my coach Diego will ask me if I want to talk and usually the answer is 'no'. After Sunday's match, I didn't talk about it.
Coco Gauff was aiming to reach her second Grand Slam singles final after finishing runner-up at the French Open last year
Both my parents and Diego respect when I don't want to talk and I'm totally grateful for that.
My parents always give me a hug after a defeat and my mum probably feels the worse out of us all, I think.
But since I was playing again in the doubles on Monday I just focused on that and will deal with everything else later.
Before it would be hard for me to talk about losses but now I'm in the headspace where I can eventually talk about it and want to learn about it.
Losing sucks but if you can go through how you felt in the match and how you felt in certain moments then you can come back and be better.
Tough thinking of yourself as a new face of the game
With Serena Williams retiring, I feel like people are eager to see a new face of the game emerge. But it is tough as a young player to think of yourself as a 'face of the game'.
Everyone wants it to happen now but you have to put into perspective the ages of us younger players coming through. To be a face of anything - not just tennis - is tough.
If we were going into American college tennis at this age, there is probably only a small chance as a freshman we'd be the number one in the team.
That's not because our games aren't there but because we don't have that experience to be the number one or captain of the team.
The captain isn't necessarily always the best player, but the player with the most experience.
I guess everyone is looking for the 'captain' of the WTA Tour. That's the best analogy I can probably give.
Players like myself, or my second-round opponent Emma Raducanu, don't quite have the experience yet. It will come with trying, failing, learning, getting back up and trying again.
You have to put your age into perspective. A year ago I would have said my age means nothing, age is just a number.
Gauff, who is set to rise to sixth in the world after the Australian Open, was beaten by Iga Swiatek in the French Open final last year
It is - I do think you can accomplish great things at any age - but for your own mental wellbeing you have to remind yourself you will fail and make some silly mistakes.
You will make mistakes because you haven't experienced life enough not to do that. I think that is something which I'm only realising this year.
The biggest moment I've learned from was the French Open final.
I put so much pressure on myself to win that I didn't even enjoy playing the final, I didn't enjoy getting to the final, and afterwards I didn't enjoy I even made a Grand Slam final.
I regret that. It should have been one of the best experiences of my career and it wasn't. Now I'm trying to tell myself to enjoy my wins a little bit more.
How doubles can help me bounce back
Gauff and Jessica Pegula, who is the third seed in the singles, have won three WTA titles together and reached the French Open doubles final last year
Although I am out of the singles in Melbourne, I am still playing doubles with Jess Pegula so I had to let out all my emotion from losing to Ostapenko before that.
I was still frustrated for a while on Sunday but then I was able to channel it in the doubles. It worked because we won in straight sets and reached the quarter-finals.
Any time you are able to compete again it is fun - especially so quickly after a loss - and I love being out on court with Jess.
Playing with her is a real positive for me, she's really chilled and she will help me out when I'm down after a loss.
I hope she takes it all the way in the singles - and that I'm still hanging around with her in the doubles.
She's my pick to win the singles now. I'm always rooting for her - except when we play each other in the singles, of course.
I hope we can go far in the doubles together and have a run like we did together at Roland Garros - but this time take the title.
Coco Gauff was talking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko at Melbourne Park.
Coco's previous columns from Melbourne
Why did Gabby Logan get into sport?: The broadcaster looks back at her career and shares her favourite music
It's demolition mixed with la dolce vita...: Amanda Holden and Alan Carr set out to renovate two crumbling properties in sun-drenched Sicily
