"She's the one to beat if I want to win French Open": Coco Gauff after losing to Iga Swiatek in Rome

ROME: The current women's World No. 3, Coco Gauff, expressed disappointment with her performance, especially on critical points, in her loss to Iga Swiatek in the semi-final clash at the Italian Open but remained optimistic on progress as the season unfolds further.

The 20-year-old American had a fantastic two weeks in Rome but lost 6-4, 6-3 against world No. 1 Swiatek in the semifinals.

The final score revealed how closely Gauff matched up with the 22-year-old Swiatek in their 11th career encounter, a physical battle that lasted an hour and forty-seven minutes.

Unfortunately, Gauff failed for the tenth time. "I would say from just this match, I feel more negative emotions right now. Looking at the whole tournament from where I started to know, I definitely feel like it's major improvement," Gauff told reporters as quoted by WTA.

"Against probably anybody else today, I would have won the match. I wanted to be aggressive, which I felt like I did. I think I missed some balls in some clutch moments. That's what being aggressive is. I think if I continue to play in this way, I will be more consistent in that," she added.

Gauff entered the competition hoping to put an end to a run of difficult three-set defeats. She lost to Anna Kalinskaya in the quarterfinals of Dubai, setting off the trend in the Middle East.

Maria Sakkari defeated her in the Indian Wells semi-finals, followed by Caroline Garcia in Miami, Marta Kostyuk in Stuttgart on clay, and Madison Keys in Rome. However, a tough three-set victory over Paula Badosa this week in the Round of 16 seems to give her more self-assurance and motivation on the court.

Her decisive victory over Zheng Qinwen, ranked No. 7, in the quarterfinals demonstrated that. "I think from the start of the clay till now, I feel like my confidence is definitely very high. Like, it sucks to lose, but I know I lost playing the right way. I know that I'm a good player and that I can do better in those moments.

I think I'm just trusting myself and my practice at that," Gauff said. "I think the way that I lost today, it wasn't because a wing or a shot broke down, it's because she was the better player today. If I lose matches like that, we go back and we practice," she added.

Gauff might have qualified for the Paris draw facing Swiatek if she had left Rome with the No. 2 rating. Rather, she will stay ranked third, which means that if they are drawn in the same half, she might play Swiatek in the semifinals.

"I think going into Roland Garros, like if you asked me pre-tournament [vs.] now, I feel like I'm a different player in terms of just how I've been playing. Going into it, I know she's the one to beat if I want to win Roland Garros. I'm going to take what I learned from today and try to apply that next time we play, which I hope is at Roland Garros," Gauff said.