Coco Gauff has new mindset after coaching change and it's working

Coco Gauff's 2024 season went from bad to worse when she suffered a fourth-round loss at the U.S. Open, following her early ousters from the 2024 Paris Olympics, Wimbledon and Cincinnati Open.

It seemed like the young American had reached her breaking point as she fired her coach, Brad Gilbert, and hinted at taking an extended break to recuperate physically and mentally.

That's precisely why everyone was shocked when Gauff declared her last-minute entry into the China Open, and even more so when she steamrolled her way to the WTA 1000 title with a win over Karolina Muchova on Sunday. Gauff's impressive run in Beijing included wins over Paula Badosa, Yuliia Starodubtseva and Naomi Osaka and re-established her as one of the top stars on the WTA circuit.

After Sunday's win, Gauff revealed why she made the last-minute call to play in Beijing even though her team advised her against it.

"I kind of told my team I wanted to play Beijing," Gauff said, via Tennis 365. "We were planning on just coming to Wuhan. I just felt like I needed to play and have fun. I enjoy Beijing."

The 20-year-old has a new mindset of wanting to play as much as possible, a year after she admittedly took the season-ending tournaments lightly after winning her first major at Flushing Meadows.

"I think last year, I won the U.S Open and I was like, the rest of the season, 'I want to do well, but whatever – just play and see what happens.' And then this time it was like, 'Well, I haven't done so well.' The tournaments that I really wanted to do well in, the Slams, that was over. So it was kind of, let's just see what happens here. I always think that this part of the season will always just be more relaxed for me."

Following her win over Badosa in the semifinal, Gauff credited the change in her mindset to her new coaches , Jean-Christophe Faurel and Matt Daly, revealing that the new team is more focused on her development than results. She said they have "already made significant process" and will only make further strides in the coming months.

Gauff, who turns 21 in March, is still very much in the early stages of her development — a fact she acknowledged after the China Open win. Gauff said her team will continue to preach patience with her as they look forward to the upcoming Wuhan Open and potentially a trip to the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.