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Coco Gauff exited the Wuhan Open after the semifinal loss to Aryna Sabalenka, effectively ending her nine-match winning streak. She led the top seed by a set but could not see herself home and lost 6-1, 4-6, 4-6.
While the Asian swing will move to Tokyo and Ningbo at the end of the Wuhan Open, Gauff is not going to be a part of any more tournaments over the next few weeks.
During her post-match press conference, Gauff shared that she was eager to return home after being away for almost a month.
The youngster mentioned that she would anyway leave for Riyadh, the venue for this year’s WTA Finals, in two weeks and was looking forward to spending that time at home.
"I think I'm going to go home just because it's been long,"Gauff said. "I think I've been here, like, four weeks. Two weeks is kind of when we have to leave for Riyadh."
Having lifted her first WTA 1000 trophy of the season at the recently concluded China Open, Gauff has obviously developed a liking for this part of the world. The youngster expressed her desire to return to China next year and compete at an even higher level.
"Yeah, maybe next year. I want to do well in Beijing. Hopefully I don't have time. But maybe next year I'll have more time," the American said.
"It's a very nice, modern city" - Coco Gauff on taking city tour during Wuhan Open
Coco Gauff also expressed her fondness for the city. She shared that she had the opportunity to explore the city for approximately 30 minutes during her time at the venue."
Dubbing Wuhan as an unexpectedly “modern city”, the American said that she enjoyed her time away from the court as well. She heaped praise on the tournament organisers as well, saying that they put in a lot of efforts to ensure that players feel at home.
"Honestly, after matches, I walked around the city for 30 minutes," Gauff said. "It's a very nice, modern city, which I wasn't expecting. I didn't really do any research on Wuhan, honestly."
"I enjoyed it. The site is really top tier. They do a lot to make the players accommodated here. I really appreciate that. Maybe next year. Honestly, I'm ready to sleep in my own bed," she added.
Gauff has already qualified for the WTA Finals, set to be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this year. She is currently placed at No. 3 in the WTA race rankings.
