Yulia Putintseva Upsets Defending Champion Coco Gauff with Victory at Cincinnati Open 2024
Coco Gauff Upset by Yulia Putintseva in Cincinnati Opener, Struggles Continue Ahead of US Open.
Concerns were raised before Coco Gauff’s US Open title defense after her unexpected loss to Yulia Putintseva in the Cincinnati Open’s second round. Prior to defending her US Open title, the 20-year-old fell to 1-2 during the hard-court swing in North America.
In the Cincinnati Open’s second round, Yulia Putintseva shocked defending champion Coco Gauff in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. It was just the latest upset of a day full of surprises at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
Her career turning point came a year ago on these courts, as she won her biggest trophy after defeating world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. Gauff used that outcome as a springboard and went on to win the 2023 US Open championship at the end of the summer, bringing home even more trophies.
After a lackluster lead-up to her largest championship defense, the 20-year-old American is now left searching for explanations. She is now 1-2 on the hard-court circuit in North America, with her lone victory coming in Toronto over Wang Yafan.
“It was not the best match for me,” Gauff stated in an interview with the WTA Tour, declining to participate in a press conference following the match. “I made a lot of mistakes, particularly in the third when I was leading 4-2. She probably won most of the points because of my mistakes.
She’s never easy to play against. She jumbles the ball. She can slice and drop shots. She’s the type of person that makes you work for the opportunity.”
Putintseva will play Washington DC champion Paula Badosa in the round of 16. Prior to their match, Putintseva had a 0-3 head-to-head record against Gauff, with all three of their prior meetings taking place on clay. Earlier in the day, the Spaniard defeated Anna Kalinskaya, the 13th seed, 6-3, 6-2 to advance.
The Kazakh athlete sustained “a serious knee injury” during warm-up prior to her first-round match in Paris, which prevented her from competing in the 2024 Olympics. Putintseva had been on a roll, winning her first WTA title in three years in Birmingham when the bizarre injury cut short her winning streak.
After defeating world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon, Putintseva turned her disappointment into another Top 5 miracle, this time adding the current world No. 2 to her list of victims. As of right now, she has won ten of the previous eleven games since June.
“Belief never causes me any trouble. I remember from when I was a child that only my parents had faith in me,” Putintseva said to Tennis Channel following the game. They were the only ones who believed my height would help me succeed. My father said, “You’re the best,” even though I was the tiniest member of the group. It won’t work until you genuinely think that you’re the best.
“I’ve always believed that I must struggle. I can accomplish it if I struggle and am present at that precise moment.
On the other hand, following her loss in the second round, Gauff is scheduled to fall to world No. 3 on Monday. The American’s previous troubles only got worse in Cincinnati, where she had planned to turn things around mentally following her third-round loss in Toronto, her first competition back since losing in the Olympic third round.
Gauff said the WTA Tour, “I feel like I have to work on consistency, overall.” “I’m going to try to reset when I get home. I guess I’m just trying to reset and get ready for the US Open, which is obviously something I have a lot coming up.”
