“She takes the ball so early, so you don’t have a lot of time to react. Today, I think once I got adjusted to the tempo of play, I was able to control the rallies when they went the distance.”
The young American arrived in Miami having suffered a rare mid-match injury at the BNP Paribas Open, retiring down a set and a break to Alexandra Eala, but was optimistic about her health heading into the second half of the Sunshine Swing.
“I may feel it sometimes on court, but I definitely feel it less and less every day, if that makes sense,” she explained during her Media Day press conference.
Gauff was nonetheless feeling the pressure from her first match against Cocciaretto, a world No. 44 who went on to reach the quarterfinals in Doha after scoring her win over Gauff. With the benefit of having already played a match in Miami, Cocciaretto was able to hit the ground running as Gauff continued to struggle with her range off the ground.
