Why not winning the Italian Open is a blessing in disguise for Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff dropped her second claycourt WTA 1000 final in succession at the 2025 Italian Open on Saturday (May 17), losing in straight sets to home hope Jasmine Paolini. For what it's worth, though, the American's title match defeat might bode well for her French Open aspirations.

Gauff enjoyed a good showing during this year's European claycourt swing, winning 11 of her 14 matches on the surface. The highlights of her campaign on the dirt include runner-up finishes in Madrid and Rome.

The World No. 3 gave in a deflated performance in the Italian Open final, in particular, losing 4-6, 2-6 to sixth-seeded Jasmine Paolini in one hour and 30 minutes. During the contest, the 21-year-old won just 52% points on her first serve and 55% on her second serve, emphasizing how badly her service game needs work.

However, Coco Gauff's most recent loss might prove to be a blessing in disguise for her. Let us take a look at the two main reasons why not going all the way at Foro Italico could perhaps boost her French Open prospects.

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#1 Coco Gauff will be relatively more well-rested for French Open 2025

Coco Gauff looks on during Italian Open final | Image Source: Getty

For those unaware, Coco Gauff spent more than 11 hours on court this fortnight. Having received a first-round bye, the fourth seed overcame a set deficit to beat Canada's Victoria Mboko in the second round of the 1000-level event. And while she dropped only one more set en route to the summit clash in Rome, the cumulative time that she spent tracking down balls may have exhausted her.

Gauff showed clear signs of not being on top of her physical conditioning against Jasmine Paolini in the final on Saturday, as she needed more than three hours and 30 minutes to dispatch eighth-seeded Zheng Qinwen in their semifinal clash on the day prior. The 21-year-old's groundstrokes lacked both depth and power, and she also made various poor decisions as far as her shot selection was concerned.

In the hypothetical scenario that Coco Gauff took the match to the distance, it would've likely gone beyond the one hour and 30 minutes mark keeping the nature of both her and Paolini's games in mind. That, in turn, would've left less fuel in her tank when she began preparing for the French Open, which will begin on May 26. Against that background, she is probably better off having dropped the Italian Open final without much of a fight.

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#2 Coco Gauff can now iron out the kinks in her service game

Coco Gauff hits a serve during Italian Open SFs | Image Source: Getty

Coco Gauff also suffered on her serve at the 2025 Italian Open, committing a whopping 30 double faults across six matches. Moreover, before arriving in Rome, the American had double-faulted 151 times - which is significantly more than any of her peers on the WTA Tour. Although she can take pride in her results during this year's clay season, her service game needs to be better for the French Open.

On a surface like clay, serve doesn't go a long way as the speed of the surface neutralizes its impact, instead forcing the players to depend on sustained aggression and consistency from the baseline. That said, Gauff isn't doing herself any favors by failing to put the ball over the net on her delivery. Committing too many double faults is also bad for morale, as evidenced during her second-set display against Jasmine Paolini in their title clash at Foro Italico.

Andy Roddick and Jim Courier also spoke extensively about the World No. 3's relatively poor serve on the Tennis Channel show earlier on Friday, attributing her awry ball toss to her recent struggles.

"A lot of it comes down to the ball toss position," Jim Courier said for Tennis Channel on Friday. "I've felt, at times, when [she hits] her second serve, the ball toss is a little too far forward and you can't really go up at it."

"I've watched her step, three feet from her, she's ripping it and the net's not even in play in practice, right?" Andy Roddick added. "I think it's just a matter of training that mentality, you kinda have to hit the bottom of the ball a little bit, or at least have the mentality to create speed and margin by kind of rolling over from the bottom."

Coco Gauff's performance on serve against Jasmine Paolini, during which the 21-year-old hit seven double faults (the worst display in terms of double faults during her Italian Open campaign came against Zheng Qinwen, against whom she double-faulted 16 times) will force her to focus more on improving her serve. Provided the 2025 French Open run works out the flaws in her service game, she will likely go deep at the claycourt Major.