Coco Gauff takes 'winning' inspiration from WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson

Coco Gauff is on the upswing in the final weeks of what's been an up-and-down 2024, and the American says one of the world's best basketball players taught her a valuable lesson that's helped keep her season's results perspective.

On the heels of Gauff winning her second career WTA 1000 title in Beijing over the weekend, the WNBA's favored Las Vegas Aces, the two-time defending league champions, were defeated in the semifinals of the playoffs by the New York Liberty, falling short of the team's quest to be just the second team in league history to win three straight titles. And speaking to reporters ahead of her first match at the Dongfeng Voya Wuhan Open this week, Gauff, a noted basketball fan, said that she applied comments the team's star player, and three-time league MVP A'ja Wilson to her own performance this year.

"People don't realize people have great moments in sports and bad moments. It doesn't mean anything," Gauff said. "I took inspiration from A'ja Wilson. Back to back champions. People wanted them to three-peat. She's kind of like, 'It's hard to stay winning all the time.'

"You need to go through losses to realize what you need to do to evolve. Tennis fans need to be more accepting of that."

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Having reached a career-high world No. 2 in the WTA rankings earlier this year, Gauff dipped down to No. 6 after reaching the round of 16 at the US Open, failing to defend the bulk of the points she won by claiming the title a year ago. Prior to her effort in Beijing, where she dropped the first set in three straight matches just to get to the final, Gauff had only reached the quarterfinals or better in one tournament over a nearly four-month span.

Those uneven outings, like the one against Emma Navarro that ended her title defense in Queens, coupled with the end of her year-plus collaboration with coach Brad Gilbert in mid-September, led to commentary by both fans and pundits that dubbed Gauff's season as a disappointment.

But Gauff rejected that notion, saying that her season before arriving in Asia, which included two Grand Slam semifinals in singles, as well as her first major crown in doubles at Roland Garros, "didn't feel so bad to me."

"When the season is as long as it is, it's very hard to play great tennis from January to November," she said. "People do it, but it's hard to do it year in, year out. There's obviously going to be a bad two tournaments, then you're able to pick it back up."

Gauff's winning ways continued in her Wuhan debut on Wednesday. Shaking off any fatigue, she scored her sixth straight victory by beating Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova, ranked No. 48, 6-1, 6-2.

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"I think I just love to compete and I love to win," Gauff said post-match. "It's one of those things when you step out, you're going to try your best. I have zero expectations this week, so it's kind of one of those rare opportunities where there's no pressure. Every match you're just happy to get through, honestly."