Quote of the Day: Coco Gauff “really wanted the 6-0” as she closed out Miami demolition

MIAMI, USA — There were a lot of questions surrounding Coco Gauff heading into the Miami Open presented by Itau, after her defeat in the fourth round at Indian Wells and back-to-back early exits in Doha and Dubai.

She emphatically silenced the doubters with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion and French Open runner-up, in a 47-minute demolition on center court.

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“I was definitely playing well today, and maybe she wasn't playing her peak great tennis,” Gauff said in her post-match press conference. “I don't think anyone who is playing their best tennis will have that scoreline today, so I'm not going to say she played her best tennis.

“I think it was a combination of me playing really well, it was really great tennis from me, and maybe her not playing as well.”

But in tennis, even a 6-0 set isn’t a guarantee that a match will go the winning player’s way: It’s not unusual for the player on the receiving end of a bagel to go out swinging freely and mount a major comeback.

Gauff was determined to not give Kenin an inch as she reeled off all 12 games in a row on Thursday afternoon:

Q. Taylor Fritz talks about when you win a first set 6-0 sometimes it's a curse. Did you ever feel any kind of nerves or like, it can all go downhill from here in the second set?

COCO GAUFF: I wasn't thinking about that today, but after the match I did think about it. I did have a little bit of nerves, and only the first game in the second set, because I feel like I want to hold serve. Sometimes that momentum can easily change.

I think if you start that game holding serve, it's much different if she comes out and she's serving and you lose that game. I feel if you go out and you hold serve, it's a big difference.

At 5-0, I really wanted the 6-0, so I was a little bit nervous that game too (smiling).

Back on home soil in South Florida, Gauff is seeking to regain consistency after a recent spate of disappointing results. The world No. 3 closed out last season on a high after winning the WTA Finals Riyadh, and then kicked off 2025 with a run to the Australian Open quarterfinals—only for her momentum to be put on ice heading into Miami.

But although her recent results haven’t been up to her own high standards, Gauff made it clear that while her second-round victory may send a message to the rest of the field, she’s not focused on proving a point to doubters and critics when she takes the court.

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“I know where I personally stand in my game. Yes, it's not been up to my standards, but at the same time, we are just in March and our season ends in November. There is a lot of time to improve,” Gauff told press.

“Today I wasn't going in with that in my mind. It just happened to be a great day for me.”

Gauff, the No. 3 seed, will face No. 28 seed Maria Sakkari in the third round on Sunday.