Cori Gauff was visibly dejected and extremely disappointed after suffering a surprise defeat against Jelena Ostapenko in the Australian Open round-of-16. Gauff, seeded at No 7, came to the Australian Open with high expectations but didn’t accomplish her dream after 17th-seeded Ostapenko handed the American a 7-5 6-3 loss.
Gauff, who won Auckland leading up to the Australian Open, was 8-0 in 2023 before losing to Ostapenko. “I think it’s (feeling of frustration) because I worked really hard, and I felt really good coming into the tournament, and I still feel good.
Like, I still feel like I’ve improved a lot. But, you know, when you play a player like her and she plays really well, it’s like, you know, there’s nothing you can do,” Gauff said, per Sportskeeda.
Gauff: I had no answers for the problems against Ostapenko
“I mean, there was moments in the match where I was getting frustrated because I normally can problem-solve, but today I feel like I didn’t have much answers to what she was doing.
There was balls I was hitting deep, and she was hitting them on the line and hitting them back deep, like, over and over again. It’s just one of those days that just didn’t go my way and went her way,” Gauff said. Gauff actually made a positive start to the match, earning the first break in the third game to open a 2-1 lead.
But Gauff’s lead was short-lived as Ostapenko broke back Gauff in the fourth game. After blowing an early first-set break, Gauff missed out on two break points in the fifth game and also didn’t realize any of her four break points in the seventh game.
Gauff paid the price for her missed chances as Ostapenko claimed the key break in the 11th game before serving out for the opener in the following game. In the second set, Ostapenko broke Gauff in the eighth game and served out for the match in the next game.
