Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva and the tennis player’s challenge of getting out of their own way

The 19-year-old has had a successful clay-court swing, picking up a title on indoor clay at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open before reaching the final of the Madrid Open in both singles and doubles.

But her strong run has been peppered with public bouts of self-doubt, and Andreeva has spoken about how disruptive her untamed emotions can be in matches.

The most memorable recent moment came in a third-round match in Madrid against Hungary’s Anna Bondár, in which Andreeva had let go of a 5-1 lead in the third set. She then turned to her coaching team in the stands and said, “I’m not a champion, I’m not a champion. I will lose. I will lose. I choke.”

It appeared that Andreeva, who has gone through bouts of self-flagellation and dismay in moments big and small of late, culminating in cursing at the crowd after a loss at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, was done. Instead, she won the match.

Gauff, meanwhile, spoke of additional off-court challenges that have had her “on edge” and listening to gospel music before matches to calm down. She has also admonished herself the past week, even in matches she ultimately won.

She pulled off a pair of comebacks to reach the quarterfinals in Rome, fighting from match point down in the fourth round against rising American Iva Jović, the 16th seed, and from a double-break down against Solana Sierra in the third round. But in both matches, Gauff let a platform for victory strip her of her ruthlessness.

She went 3-0 down to Sierra in the third set after winning the second 6-0, while she led by a break in both of the first two sets against Jović, before finding herself down a set and 5-3. A combination of nerves and an issue with a finger on Jović’s right hand gave Gauff the assist she needed to win the second set. Then she took over the third.

Gauff said her motivation was flagging against Sierra, a symptom of what she called “some personal things off court” that she’s been going.

“For most of my career, I’ve been having to only focus on my game. So it’s weird when your mind is in a different place,” she said after winning that match.

What Gauff and Andreeva also share is a sense of distrust on their forehands. Gauff, who has been on an odyssey to fix her fickle serve, appears to have quelled the double faults that tended to define her losses in 2025. She is not there yet on the most important groundstroke for most players, with her footwork and spacing — how close she gets to the ball before hitting it — getting her off balance and needing her to compensate with her phenomenal backhand and foot speed. Andreeva, too, can swing through the shot, but often decelerates and plays it safer than she might need to do, slicing when she could drive.

Andreeva looked to be the more confident competitor at the start Tuesday. She dictated more often after breaking early for a 2-1 lead and captured her first set against Gauff since they played at the 2023 French Open.

Andreeva and Gauff traded characters in the second set. Gauff was more assertive at the net and played perhaps the cleanest, most assured set of her clay-court swing this year as Andreeva faded into the background. She often finds clarity on her forehand when she pairs it with intent to move forward, and this was no exception.

There were no emotional outbursts this time from Andreeva, only an absence of emotion that lasted until Gauff led 5-1 in the third set. Then, as against Sierra, Gauff became passive and Andreeva, free of pressure and with her coaching team shouting, “You can win this match!” from the stands, came back online. She forced errors from Gauff’s forehand, but ultimately wasn’t aggressive enough to fully shake her opponent.

Gauff may be having difficulties with her forehand and focus, but the three years in age and four years on tour that separate Gauff and Andreeva make a difference. Self-trust is not something that Gauff lacks.

“I was trying to find the balance of being aggressive and not missing, and on some of those match points I made some unforced errors. But also just forgetting them. I mean, it’s a missed opportunity, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create another one. I was trying to get myself as many opportunities and hopefully [with] the math, eventually one will land my way.” Gauff said in an interview on Tennis Channel.

Late in the third set, Gauff fist pumped after hard fought points even if she lost them. After Andreeva broke her to win her third straight game and make it 5-4, Gauff was confident her return game could carry her home.

“It’s disappointing when you’re 5-1 and all of a sudden it’s 5-4, but I also reminded myself I have a really good return percentage, I think I’m one of the best on tour percentage-wise with that,” Gauff said.

“So I don’t know, just like, the numbers are on my side. I have to hope that they stick today.”

They did, after a 13-minute final game in which Andreeva saved two match points.

Next up, Gauff faces Sorana Cîrstea, the Romanian who handed world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka her earliest loss at a tournament in more than a year Saturday in Rome. At 36, Cîrstea is playing her final year on tour, meaning Gauff has plenty in common with her upcoming opponent, too. For different reasons, they share a similar mindset.

“It’s just trying to not leave the court with regrets,” Gauff said.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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