Cori Gauff suffered a devastating loss in her maiden Grand Slam final but she is confident that she can make another Grand Slam final and have a different outcome next time.
On Saturday, first-seeded Iga Swiatek handed a 6-1 6-3 loss to Gauff in the French Open final.
Swiatek has been absolutely dominant over the last four months as she has won her last 35 matches and has six titles under her name in 2022.
Gauff maybe easily lost her first Grand Slam final but gained a valuable experience.
“Now that I have seen the level, this level of No.1 and 35 matches [won in a row], I know that what I have to do. I’m sure I’m going to play her in another final and hopefully it’s a different result,” Gauff said, per the WTA website.
Gauff feels relieved
Gauff, who turned 18 this past March, has been around the WTA Tour for three years now.
“I definitely feel like this helped my confidence a lot,” Gauff said. “I just think even when I was 15, 16, 17, I felt like so much pressure to make a final. “Now that I made it, I feel like a relief a little bit.”
After seeing her little brother cry, Gauff played bad and tried to comfort her brother by telling him that it was just a tennis match.
“After the match, my little brother was crying and I felt so bad, because I was trying to just tell him, it’s just a tennis match,” Gauff said. “I’m like, ‘Why are you crying?’ I’m like, ‘I’m crying too, I know.’ Everybody’s crying. I think for them to see me so upset, I think that’s what hurt them the most. Tomorrow, or even tonight, we’re going to play cards again and we are going to laugh and we are going to be fine.”