<body><div><p>Coco Gauff is on the upswing in the final weeks of what's been an up-and-down 2024, and the American says one of the world's best basketball players taught her a valuable lesson that's helped keep her season's results perspective.</p><p>On the heels of Gauff winning her second career WTA 1000 title in Beijing over the weekend, the WNBA's favored Las Vegas Aces, the two-time defending league champions, were defeated in the semifinals of the playoffs by the New York Liberty, falling short of the team's quest to be just the second team in league history to win three straight titles. And speaking to reporters ahead of her first match at the Dongfeng Voya Wuhan Open this week, Gauff, a noted basketball fan, said that she applied comments the team's star player, and three-time league MVP A'ja Wilson to her own performance this year.</p><p>"People don't realize people have great moments in sports and bad moments. It doesn't mean anything," Gauff said. "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.'</p><p>"You need to go through losses to realize what you need to do to evolve. Tennis fans need to be more accepting of that."</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DA1vuLHyDRc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:658px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:99.375%;width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px);width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DA1vuLHyDRc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%" target="_blank"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"></div></div></div><div style="padding:19% 0"></div><div style="display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewbox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top:8px"><div style="color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding:12.5% 0"></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;align-items:center"><div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"></div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"></div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"></div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"></div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"></div></div></a><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DA1vuLHyDRc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Tennis (@tennischannel)</a></p></div><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);delay=function(){window.instgrm.Embeds.process()};setTimeout(delay,500)"></blockquote><p>Having reached a career-high world No. 2 in the WTA rankings earlier this year, Gauff dipped down to No. 6 after reaching the round of 16 at the US Open, failing to defend the bulk of the points she won by claiming the title a year ago. Prior to her effort in Beijing, where she dropped the first set in three straight matches just to get to the final, Gauff had only reached the quarterfinals or better in one tournament over a nearly four-month span.</p><p>Those uneven outings, like the one against Emma Navarro that ended her title defense in Queens, coupled with the end of her year-plus collaboration with coach Brad Gilbert in mid-September, led to commentary by both fans and pundits that dubbed Gauff's season as a disappointment.</p><p>But Gauff rejected that notion, saying that her season before arriving in Asia, which included two Grand Slam semifinals in singles, as well as her first major crown in doubles at Roland Garros, "didn't feel so bad to me."</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2fZJNB_0w0NPWKy00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2fZJNB_0w0NPWKy00" width="1440" height="810" ><figcaption>"I took inspiration from A'ja Wilson. ... She's kind of like, 'It's hard to stay winning all the time.'" © Getty Images</figcaption></figure><p>"When the season is as long as it is, it's very hard to play great tennis from January to November," she said. "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."</p><p>Gauff's winning ways continued in her Wuhan debut on Wednesday. Shaking off any fatigue, she scored her sixth straight victory by beating Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova, ranked No. 48, 6-1, 6-2.</p><p>"I think I just love to compete and I love to win," Gauff said post-match. "It's one of those things when you step out, you're going to try your best. I have zero expectations this week, so it's kind of one of those rare opportunities where there's no pressure. Every match you're just happy to get through, honestly."</p></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Coco Gauff takes 'winning' inspiration from WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson

Coco Gauff is on the upswing in the final weeks of what's been an up-and-down 2024, and the American says one of the world's best basketball players taught her a valuable lesson that's helped keep her season's results perspective. On the heels of Gauff winning her second career WTA 1000...

Coco Gauff takes 'winning' inspiration from WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson

Comments / 0