Coco Gauff backs herself after Aryna Sabalenka withdrawal from Stuttgart

Coco Gauff has moved up to the second seed spot in Stuttgart following Aryna Sabalenka’s decision to pull out of the tournament.

Gauff is coming off a strong showing at the Miami Open, where she reached the final. Now, she’s shifting her focus to clay and getting ready for her first tournament on the surface this season.

Sabalenka had been expected to lead a strong field in Stuttgart, but after her withdrawal last week, Gauff spoke about how she sees her chances improving.

Coco Gauff feels confident in her chances at Stuttgart

Even though Sabalenka is out, Stuttgart still features a strong lineup with six of the top 10 players, including two-time former champion Iga Swiatek, who’s beginning her first tournament under new coach Francisco Roig.

But Gauff hasn’t seemed too bothered by that. She said she generally feels confident about her chances, no matter who else is in the field.

“I mean, yeah, always have a chance, regardless of who’s in the draw, Aryna or whoever is in the draw,” Gauff said before the tournament. “Always have a good chance to do well at any tournament.”

“It’s the first clay tournament of the year for me. Some people have already got matches at Billie Jean King Cup, last week in Linz. I’m not treating this as trying to win; I think it is just more so for the process to do well over the next coming weeks.”

That confidence will be important this clay season as she’s defending more ranking points than any other player on tour.

How Coco Gauff has fared at the Stuttgart Open

Last year, Gauff had a strong run on clay, making it to the finals in Madrid and Rome before winning her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.

But those results didn’t carry over to the indoor clay of Stuttgart, where she was knocked out by Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals.

In four appearances at this event, Gauff has yet to get past the quarterfinal stage and actually holds a losing record overall (3-4).

This year, she’ll start her campaign against Liudmila Samsonova after receiving a bye into the second round and will be looking to turn her fortunes around.

Gauff should take some confidence into that match, having beaten Samsonova in all three of their previous encounters.

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