Coco Gauff name-checks Caitlin Clark’s rival and uses her to help at Wuhan Open

Coco Gauff is hoping to win her second title in as many weeks at the Wuhan Open.

Coco Gauff is taking inspiration from Caitlin Clark’s rival when it comes to keeping her results in perspective after a turbulent year. The 20-year-old, who recently won the China Open, has reached the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open and will be hoping to clinch her second title in as many weeks.

Gauff is a keen basketball fan and has been inspired by A’ja Wilson, who is one of the best players in the WNBA alongside rookie sensation Clark. Wilson’s team, the Las Vegas Aces, were on the receiving end of a playoff defeat to the New York Liberty over the weekend.

The result saw the Aces fall short in their quest to become the second team in WNBA history to win three straight titles. Ahead of the Wuhan Open, Gauff pointed to Wilson’s post-match comments while discussing her own performances on the tennis court.

Gauff is a keen basketball fan and is taking inspiration from WNBA icon A’ja Wilson (Image: GETTY)
People don’t realize people have great moments in sports and bad moments,” said Gauff. “It doesn’t mean anything. I took inspiration from A’ja Wilson. Back to back champions. People wanted them to three-peat.

“She’s kind of like, ‘It’s hard to stay winning all the time’. You need to go through losses to realize what you need to do to evolve. Tennis fans need to be more accepting of that.”

Gauff has struggled to maintain top form over the last 12 months but will be hoping to stay on the right path for the rest of the year. In June, she broke into the world’s top two for the very first time after reaching the semi-finals of the French Open and winning the doubles event
At Wimbledon, she was knocked out in the fourth round before suffering an early exit at the Olympics. Gauff also failed to defend her title at the US Open, crashing out at the hands of compatriot Emma Navarro, before returning to winning ways at the China Open.

“When the season is as long as it is, it’s very hard to play great tennis from January to November,” she added. “People do it, but it’s hard to do it year in, year out. There’s obviously going to be a bad two tournaments, then you’re able to pick it back up.”

It remains to be seen if Gauff will be able to follow up her China Open triumph by securing more glory in Wuhan this week. She has already beaten Viktoriya Tomova and Marta Kostyuk and will face Magda Linette in the quarter-finals on Friday.