Iga Świątek’s great rival falls apart. Shocking scenes at the WTA Finals.
Coco Gauff had a nightmare debut at the 2025 WTA Finals — a tournament in which she is, after all, the defending champion. If Iga Świątek had played like that, the whole of Poland would be talking about a disaster. In her loss to Jessica Pegula, Gauff completely fell apart, and the mistakes she made were almost unbelievable. Her coach’s reactions said it all. And that’s not the end of it.
Coco Gauff lost to Jessica Pegula 3–6, 7–6, 6–2 in her opening match at the WTA Finals, but the score doesn’t reflect the ordeal she went through on court in Riyadh. Her newly hired coach, Gavin MacMillan — a service specialist — looked like he wanted to sink into the ground, while the player kept throwing him helpless looks.
Shocking numbers from Coco Gauff: 75 errors!
If Świątek had made as many mistakes as Gauff did, all of Poland would be calling it a catastrophe. After all, they are neighbors in the WTA rankings — Iga is No. 2, Gauff No. 3 — and not long ago people were saying Świątek’s position was seriously threatened.
A telling moment came near the end of the second set. Leading 6–5, 40–30 and serving for the set, Coco committed three consecutive double faults. And these weren’t minor mistakes — the ball landed nearly a meter beyond the line each time.
The numbers with which the defending champion finished the match are truly shocking, as highlighted on X by one of the best-known tennis journalists, José Morgado.
Gauff committed:
17 double faults (Pegula had 1)
45 forehand errors (Pegula 17)
13 backhand errors (Pegula 13)
That means Coco made 75 errors out of the 112 points she lost. The tennis world hasn’t seen stats like these in a long time.
