Coco Gauff, the world number three, was eliminated in the fourth round of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Wednesday, March 12th.1 Despite winning the first set, she was defeated by Belinda Bencic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.2 Gauff held a promising 4-4, 40-0 lead in the third set but ultimately lost her serve and the match.
The loss was particularly tough for Gauff, who also celebrated her 21st birthday on March 13th. In her post-match press conference, she reflected on her performance and recent results.
Gauff acknowledged her disappointing Middle East swing but highlighted her strong start to the year in Australia, where she won the United Cup and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.
“I mean, overall I feel like, I mean, it’s not as bad as it seems, I guess. I mean, start of the year, I did well at United Cup and lost to Paula fourth round in Australia. Middle East wasn’t a great swing for me,” Gauff said.
Regarding her loss at Indian Wells, Gauff noted that she lost a close match to an in-form opponent. She expressed frustration that her hard work in practice was not yet translating into desired results.
“Here, I mean, I lost 6-4 in the third in the fourth round against a tough opponent who’s coming off a 500 win.3 Obviously I wanted to do better, want to have better results, but it’s not something I can crush myself on. I’m trying to do better, and that’s all I can do. I’m trying to work on things in practice, and unfortunately right now it’s not translating how I’d like to,” she said.
Gauff, who reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells last year, will lose ranking points. However, she will remain ranked number three. She now focuses on the Miami Open.
Gauff aims for a better showing at the 2025 Miami Open, which begins on March 18th. This will be the final hardcourt tournament before the tour transitions to clay.
The Miami Open and the Madrid Open are the only two WTA 1000 tournaments where Gauff has yet to reach the quarter-finals. She has a 6-5 record in Miami, with two fourth-round appearances as her best results.
Last year, Gauff started strongly in Miami, dropping only seven games in her first two matches, but was defeated by Caroline Garcia in the fourth round.
