She suffered the same fate at the Qatar Open against Marta Kostyuk, with Gauff having previously reached the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Gauff wants more social content from the WTA Tour, with the American currently behind only Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek in the world rankings.

She started her season superbly, helping the USA win the United Cup, a success that came shortly after she lifted the WTA Finals trophy in Riyadh.

CoCo Vandeweghe says Coco Gauff is ready to win Indian Wells title

Finding her best form has been difficult since then, but former professional CoCo Vandeweghe is predicting a strong Indian Wells run from Gauff.

“This event really suits her,” Vandeweghe said on Tennis Channel. “I think that she really enjoys playing here.

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“We saw her last year come in a little bit shaky, but there was so much conversation about her forehand, about her game in general.

“But I think now that she has kind of taken a couple of lumps in the Middle East, I think that will help her coming in here, because she does really play so well when she is playing with that little bit of grit, when the doubters and haters start coming out.

“And I think she is ready to win this title, but I would like to see the first couple of matches to kind of put my stamp of approval of taking home the title, or going home without it.”

CoCo Vandeweghe says Indian Wells courts suit Elena Rybakina

Just like this year, Gauff was the third seed at Indian Wells in 2024, where she stormed her way to the semi-finals.

But Maria Sakkari knocked the American out in the last four, before she went on to lose the final to Swiatek.

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It was a fine run last time out that Gauff can take real confidence from, although she must deal with the new surface at Indian Wells.

Just like the US Open and Miami Open, the hard court event now uses Laykold, with Vandeweghe discussing that change.

She had a particular focus on WTA number seven Elena Rybakina, who just clinched mixed doubles success with Taylor Fritz at the Eisenhower Cup on the eve of the Indian Wells main draw.

“Having hit on these courts, I think it’s going to be impossible to make it similar to Miami, just because it’s just the humidity versus the dry desert area,” she said.

“You’re never going to make it similar, as much as you want to try. I think Prakash [Amritraj] hit the nail on the head, having the balls be more uniform, because the Penn balls that they do use here fluff up a lot no matter if it’s playing here, they used to play it at Bank of the West at Stanford, and those balls just fluff up naturally so if it was more uniform, if they played, no matter what they pick, I think that would be better off. I personally, having the new court change, would dislike it.

“I think this still suits Elena Rybakina, because she is such a first-strike player, she can take time away on any surface out here.

“So I think she hit the nail on the head, the ball is bouncing lower, that’s going to be the key difference. I’ve noticed a couple of odd bounces here or there on the courts, but maybe it was just the court, or maybe it’s just because I’m not as good as I once was.”