Just two years ago at Wimbledon Championships, Coco Gauff had a difficult outing against fellow American Emma Navarro. The match quickly slipped away as Gauff began piling up errors, tossed in a double fault, and found herself down 1-4 while visibly frustrated. Her body language said plenty, shaking her head between points, throwing her arms up toward her camp, and openly asking for input.

At one point, she even shouted, “Tell me something. You guys aren’t saying anything,” as her coach tried to offer tactical advice from the box. It was clear she was looking for guidance in that moment. But two years later, Gauff’s view seems to have changed. This time, the American has openly admitted that she’s not a fan of receiving coaching during matches.

On May 11, Coco Gauff pulled off a remarkable comeback against Iva Jovic in the R16 of the Italian Open. While analyzing her performance, Gauff credited her coach for providing her with some valuable advice during the match. However, she further pointed out that she isn’t a big fan of excessive mid-match coaching. She feels that a player doesn’t need long talks from the coach, especially during crunch situations.

“Honestly, I’m not a player who gets long talks from her coach very often. At that moment I felt that he gave me good advice. It was nothing tactical, very complex. Sometimes, when you have your head all over the place, you simply need to be reminded of the things you need to stay focused on in those moments of panic. It was more of a reaffirmation,” she added.

Having lost the first set 5-7, she would struggle to find her rhythm in the second set as well and would trail her compatriot 3-5, 30-40. However, despite being on match-point, Jovic would fail to finish off the job as Gauff went on to break her serve twice and clinch the second set. Though the World No. 4 wasn’t at her best in the third set either, she would win it comfortably by 6-2 to keep her campaign afloat. After the match, Gauff opened up on how she was able to maintain her composure while being a match-point down.

The 22-year-old believes that she was able to get back into the match because Jovic didn’t play at her best when she was on the brink of victory. Gauff also looked back to her match against Elise Mertens at the Dubai Championships earlier this year, where she had again saved multiple match-points and had gone on to make an unbelievable comeback.

“Honestly, on that match point my head was almost in the locker room. I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to hear a lot about this match. Then, I don’t know, I was able to pull through. I think she lowered the level a little bit when she had an advantage and that helped me get back into the match. I actually thought about my game in Dubai, when I saved five or six match points against Mertens. I said to myself, ‘Maybe I can do it again today,'” she said during the post-match press-conference.

Many believe that the turning point of the match came in the second set when Jovic called for a medical timeout at 5-4. She had taken the timeout for the treatment of the blister on her finger. The 20-year-old didn’t look to be the same as she returned to the court and was evidently struggling with her grip. This led to a host of unforced errors, helping Gauff turn around the match.

Despite the impressive result, the 22-year-old was clearly not at her best during her match against Jovic. Though the American knows how to make solid starts, she fails to capitalize on them and allows her opponents to get back into the match. She is very well aware of this and highlighted that she needs to focus on closing out the sets when she has the chance of doing so.

“Honestly the starts have been fine. My first round I was up a break. Today I was up a break in the first. I think I was up 3-1, 30-Love, too. I think for me it’s more focusing on staying on top of the opponent when I do have the lead in the first set. I think it’s a learning experience. I’m not disappointed. I played two quality opponents, Iva being top 20. I’m not Jannik. I think I’m going to lose some sets. Obviously, the goal is to definitely start those matches… I guess I’m starting them fine but continue to close out the first sets so I don’t have to go three hours on the court,” she further said.

Having gotten past Jovic, Gauff will be locking horns against one of the most in-form WTA players in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.

Coco Gauff set to tackle Mirra Andreeva in the last 8

The American is set to take on the high-flying Mirra Andreeva at the Italian capital. The latter has had a far more comfortable path than Gauff coming into the quarterfinals. She had racked up a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elise Mertens in the R16 and is among the top contenders to clinch the prestigious title in Rome.

Not to mention that Andreeva has had a fantastic clay swing and currently has a win-loss record of 15-2. She had captured the Linz Open title before reaching the semis in Stuttgart and the final in Madrid. This form has seen the 19-year-old climb up to No. 7 on the rankings.

However, the 22-year-old does have the advantage over Andreeva when it comes to the H2H record. She currently leads by 4-0 and will likely be the favorite heading into their upcoming clash. Coincidentally, the two’s previous meeting had come in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Italian Open. The 2x Grand Slam champion had bagged a 6-4, 7-6 victory on that occasion and had made it all the way to the final where she had lost to Jasmine Paolini.

Will Gauff be able to make it five wins in a row over Andreeva, or will the latter continue her dominant form on clay and bag her first-ever victory over the American? Drop your predictions in the comments!