Coco Gauff said that wanting to be aggressive and dictating play contributed to her stunning number of 74 unforced errors against Moyuka Uchijima, while the 21 double faults number could be explained by the fact that she's in the process of making some changes to her serve.
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In her opening match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, the top-ranked American female tennis player - who suffered back-to-back opening match losses in Doha and Dubai last month - was far from her best game. But unlike in the Middle East, the American found a way to end on the winning side this time as she edged out Uchijama 6-4 3-6 7-6 (4).
In the third set, Gauff went 4-0 up and it looked like she would routinely get the job done in the decider. But then, she started heavily hitting unforced errors, as well as double faults on some match and break points. In the end, the 20-year-old was lucky enough to avoid what would have been an absolutely brutal loss but it took her five match points before she put a curtain on the match.
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Gauff addresses hitting 21 double faults, 74 unforced errors against Uchijima
I mean, the unforced errors, I had to go bigger towards the end of the match, and even in the middle, because I felt like she would dictate so it's kind of just take your chances. Then doubles, I've been in the practice of trying to fix things on my serve," the world No. 3 explained.
"I don't know. It was just an up-and-down process. It's tough out there. But, I mean, if I'm able to win matches playing kind of like D tennis, then it gives me confidence just when I'm able to mesh things together like I did earlier this season.
Gauff plays Maria Sakkari in the third round, who is a two-time Indian Wells runner-up. Knowing that the Greek usually plays well in the desert, the third-seeded American will definitely need to reduce her mistake if she wants to win her next match.
