Coco Gauff Heads Home To The Miami Open After Her 21st Birthday And A Bit Of A Rough Patch

Coco Gauff shrugged her right shoulder and chuckled a bit Monday at the notion that she seems to illicit concern from others when she goes through a two- or three-match losing streak - a rough patch in the course of a long season.

"Sometimes when I don't do well, people think there's something personally wrong with me," Gauff said on the eve of the Miami Open , where the women begin main-draw play on Tuesday and the men get started Wednesday.

Bow out early at one event or two - or drop a trio of outings consecutively, as she did at the Australian Open , Qatar and Dubai in January and February - and fans or former players will ask the 2023 U.S. Open champion , who just turned 21 last week, whether she's OK.

"I'm like, 'I just lost a couple of matches! I'm chillin','" said Gauff, who has a first-round bye because she is seeded No. 3 at the hard-court Masters 1000 event and will get started by taking on another past Grand Slam champion - Petra Kvitova or Sofia Kenin - in the second round later in the week.

"I'm obviously not happy with those past results, but it's one of those things that, in the history of my career, I've had ups and downs. I still feel like I have a couple more years ... to reach that point where every week is a great week, I guess," said Gauff, who is based not far from where the Miami Open is played. "I'm also in the middle of changes in my game it's been difficult."