Coco Gauff suffered a fourth round Indian Wells exit at the hands of former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
Gauff was left frustrated against Bencic, after allowing her opponent to do something that she was hoping not to.
This continues on from a mixed 2025 season so far, with Gauff winning the United Cup in her first tournament of the year, before suffering a drop in form in the subsequent events.
After losing in the Australian Open quarter-finals to Paula Badosa, Gauff lost three matches in a row concluding in a Dubai defeat to McCartney Kessler.
Gauff returned to winning ways against Moyuka Uchijima, and is still the third highest ranked player in the world.
Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesCoco Gauff explains why she ‘doesn’t care’ about being American number one
It has been a very impressive start to the season for US players, with three American’s currently inside the WTA top five for the first time in 22 years.
Gauff currently leads the trio followed by Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys, but told Roland Garros that being the top ranked American is not something that she cares about.
We sat down with Coco Gauff to talk about various topics, including how important clinching the World No.1 spot is for her, and the eventuality of needing a break one day in her career to maintain her love for the sport 🎙️
Check out the full interview here 👉… pic.twitter.com/kJvNu5Zn7e
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) March 12, 2025
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Instead the 2023 US Open champion is more focussed on the world number one ranking, but Gauff has admittedly been inspired by her compatriots.
“Honestly, it never meant anything to me,” Gauff said when asked about being the American number one. “I just feel like all the people say it online. And for me, it really means absolutely nothing. I don’t like to look at it. I don’t care.
“The reason it means nothing is because of the goal, obviously, is to be number one, period.
“But obviously, I am lucky to be surrounded by such great competition for my country. And all of us are friendly with each other and we root for each other. And I was just happy to see, Madison win and then seeing Amanda win – two people who I think rightfully and strongly deserve those titles.”
Gauff has a career-high ranking of world number two, which she achieved in June 2024, but currently trails world number one Aryna Sabalenka by 2,743 points.
This gap is only set to grow, with Sabalenka still in the Indian Wells tournament after reaching the quarter-finals.
WTA RankingPlayerPoints1Aryna Sabalenka9,0762Iga Swiatek7,9853Coco Gauff6,3334Jessica Pegula5,2515Madison Keys4,679Coco Gauff reveals how she would want to retire from tennis
At 21-years-old, Gauff is unlikely to be anywhere near thinking about retiring from professional tennis.
Retirement has been a big topic of conversation over the past year, with both Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal saying farewell to the sport.
When this topic was brought to Gauff, she explained the importance of going out on her own terms rather than due to a physical problem.
“I guess the most important thing is just to not be physically burnt out, just because at the end of the day, when it’s time to retire, I want to make sure it’s on my terms and not because of an injury or anything like that,” explained Gauff.
“So I think it’s just more so protecting my love for the sport and hopefully that it treats me with that love, too.”
Gauff arrived on the tour at 15-years-old, and has already won nine WTA titles in her first six years.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Next up for Gauff will be the second half of the sunshine double at the Miami Open, a tournament where she is yet to surpass the quarter-finals in her five previous appearances.