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Many expected Coco Gauff to be bitterly disappointed with her US Open defeat to Naomi Osaka, but instead she is optimistic about her progress.
Gauff spoke about being excited for what's to come following her brave decision to change coaches in an attempt to overcome one of her biggest weaknesses on a tennis court.
Following a torrid 2024 North American hard-court swing, the American parted ways with Brad Gilbert and teamed up with Matt Daly last September and they enjoyed instant success as she won the China Open and finished the year with the season-ending WTA Finals trophy.
More success followed at the Roland Garros when she won her second major while she also finished runner-up at the Madrid Open and Italian Open, but Gauff was the first to admit that there was still one glaring frailty to her game: her serve.
Despite Daly's positive impact, Gauff made a big call when Gavin MacMillan became available after the Cincinnati Open as she opted to part ways with Daly and joined up with the biomechanics expert.
It was always going to be a risky move with the Cincinnati event and the US Open so close to each other, especially as it was decided to change her whole service motion.
After a difficult three-set win over Ajla Tomljanovic in the opening round, the 21-year-old admitted that the build-up to the hard-court Grand Slam was tough and her shoulder often hurt after practice, but she had to push through.
There were tears during and after her two-set win over Donna Vekic while it looked like everything started to click against Magdalena Fręch in the third round as she dropped only four games.
But then the big test arrived against Osaka as the four-time Grand Slam winner defeated Gauff 6-3, 6-1.
There was sadness after the match as she admitted she "broke down".
"I think that trying to be more positive after the match, I was really disappointed," she admitted. "Kind of broke down to my team and then hearing their perspectives and everything, it definitely is a lot of positive things.
"If I think if I kept the way I was going in Cincinnati to here, I would have been out the first round. And so I think that where my serve started from the start of the tournament to today was a big improvement. And I feel like now I just have to get everything to work together. But, yeah, I knew going in it was going to be a tough tournament for me."
But there is a clear objective now that MacMillan has joined the team.
She served 320 double faults before the US Open and added another 23 during her first three matches in New York before serving five more against Osaka.
"My goal going into the tournament this year was not to lose the same way that I lost last year. And I don't remember how many doubles I hit in my match against Emma, but it was definitely in the double digits, so I didn't do that today," she said.
"It's been a tough, I think, post-French Open for me, for sure. And I know the improvements that I need to make, and I feel like I'm, like, making the right decision by making them.
"I wish I had more time between this tournament and Cincinnati, but that's the cards that I was given."
And then came the upbeat part as it is easy to forget that Gauff is just 21 years and she has already won 10 WTA Tour singles titles - including two Grand Slams, a WTA Finals trophy and two WTA 1000 titles - and peaked at No 2 in the WTA Rankings.
Her biggest rivals are older as world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is 27 while Iga Swiatek is 24.
"I think today when I walked on the court and I don't know, I feel like I put so much pressure on myself at my age at 21, and I realised, like, how much the girls on tour are being successful at like, 25, 26 at those ages," she said.
"So I think for me, it just gets me excited to realise if I have, like, four more years of just working as hard as I am right now and actually doing the right things, like where my game could be.
"And it has obviously improved in the last four years from four years ago to now. So I think if I can make that same jump of improvement, it's a lot to be excited for the future for."
