“She just makes you earn every single point”. That is what Jessica Pegula had to say about Coco Gauff after the World No. 5 lost her first match at the WTA Finals against the two-time Major champion. Pegula was not overstating her compatriot’s abilities, given that Gauff has won three matches after being match points down in 2026 itself. However, in her match against Linda Noskova, the World No. 4 could not call on her fightback skills, pointing to one key metric where she fell short.
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“She played solid today, she’s able to play first-strike tennis…I think I didn’t put enough pressure on her,” said Gauff in a post-match interview. “I wish I’d started off serving a bit better.”
Gauff is not off her assessment, as the American got broken in her first-set game. She made six double faults in the set, which is not as many as she had made in some of her matches before, but the American’s second serve fell short. The World No. 4 could win only two of her seventeen second-serve points, which saw Noskova break her serve four times in the set. While Gauff did break serve twice herself, her vulnerable serve meant that the Czech was always in the contest, given the slower court speed at Indian Wells, which nullifies the effect of big serves either way.
Gauff made a similar mistake in the second set, losing her first service game to concede an early 2-0 lead to Noskova. While the American held on to her serve from then on, she could not get a single break point on Noskova’s serve, who lost only four points behind her first serve and two points behind her second serve. The Czech made over 70 percent of her first serves, which was key to her holding serve in such a dominant fashion. The American did get a slight opportunity in the third game when she went 30-15 up, but the Czech was able to neutralize any pressure with her serve.
Serve has been the Achilles ‘ heel for Gauff in her career so far, with the American often making an exorbitant number of double faults in a match, while also mistiming her forehand during rallies. During her tournament in Dubai in 2026, the American made 38 double faults in the four matches she played, often making less than fifty percent of her first serves. However, she was able to rely on her court coverage and a reliable backhand to overcome the shortcoming and win her matches, including the one in which she defeated Elise Mertens after coming back from match point down.
With the loss against Noskova at Indian Wells, Gauff is now in a must-win territory at the WTA Finals as the American needs to win her match against Marta Kostyuk. The American has good memories of playing the Ukrainian in recent times, something that even Kostyuk has in her mind.
Marta Kostyuk Is Wary of Playing Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals
The final group match in Group 1 at the WTA Finals will pit Gauff against Kostyuk, with both players going into the match with contrasting ambitions. While the American needs a win to qualify for the semifinals, the Ukrainian is hoping for a good ending to her Finals debut, as she is already out of the semifinal race after losing to Linda Noskova and Jessica Pegula.
The head-to-head is in favor of Gauff, who leads 4-2, including a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Kostyuk during their last encounter at the Cincinnati Open a few months back. The American was in top form during that phase of the season, going on to win the title in Cincinnati and then reach the semifinals at the US Open. For Kostyuk, the World No. 10 hoped for a better outing against the World No. 4 this time around.
“She destroyed me in Cincinnati,” said Kostyuk in her post-match interview. “I had absolutely no chance in that match. Hopefully I’ll get more chances on Thursday and the match will be closer.”
While she does not have a chance of making it to the semifinals, Kostyuk will hope to throw a wrench in Gauff’s path, and as the head-to-head suggests, she has beaten the American twice, with her last victory coming at the 2025 Qatar Open. However, the Ukrainian came into the Finals as an alternate after Elena Rybakina pulled out, is currently on a five-match losing streak, and it remains to be seen whether she can put up a challenge against Gauff.