Coco Gauff confident of her form ahead of French Open 2024 despite losing to Iga Swiatek in Italian Open: "I feel like a different player"

Coco Gauff has displayed confidence in herself despite her semifinal loss to Iga Swiatek ahead of the 2024 French Open. Although she won in straight sets, the Pole took an hour and 46 minutes to see off the American at the 2024 Italian Open.

Gauff was the third seed and kicked off her campaign with a comfortable win over Magdalena Frech and followed it up with a topsy-turvy win against Jaqueline Cristian. The American dug deep in the fourth round to come back from a set down to send Paula Badosa packing and blitzed past Zheng Qinwen to reach the final four.

Although she broke the Pole early on in the first set, Gauff was immediately put on the back foot by Swiatek who then took control of the match before winning 6-4, 6-3.

When asked how confident she was ahead of the French Open, Coco Gauff exuded confidence stating that though she lost, she was happy with playing the right way and knew that she was a good player who could do better with more practice.

"Yeah, I think from the start of the clay till now, I feel like my confidence is definitely very high. Like, it sucks to lose, but I know I lost playing the right way. I know that I'm a good player and that I can do better in those moments. I think I'm just trusting myself and my practice at that."

Gauff also revealed that she feels like a more evolved player, as compared to the beginning of the European clay court swing.

"I think the way that I lost today, it wasn't because a wing or a shot broke down, it's because she was the better player today. If I lose matches like that, we go back and we practice. I think going into Roland Garros, like if you asked me pretournament and now, I feel like I'm a different player in terms of just how I've been playing."

"Iga Swiatek's the one to beat if I want to win Roland Garros" - Coco Gauff

Sharing her thoughts, Coco Gauff revealed that her fourth round against Badosa gave her confidence and her win against Qinwen bolstered it. And though she lost the semifinals, she felt that the scoreline didn't show how competitive the match was.

"I think it really turned around in the Badosa match, then pushed through the Qinwen, and then today was a 4-3 loss. I feel like the scoreline doesn't show how competitive it was. It was almost two hours at 6-4, 6-3."

The World No. 3 admitted that Swiatek is the one to beat at the French Open this year if she wants to get her hands on the title. She said that she would try to learn from her performance today and apply the learnings the next time she meets the Pole, which she hoped to be at the Roland Garros.

"Going into it, I know she's the one to beat if I want to win Roland Garros. I'm going to take what I learned from today and try to apply that next time we play, which I hope is at Roland Garros."

Coco Gauff will head into the French Open this year as the World No. 3. The main draws of the tournament will begin on 26th May.