Gauff’s Greatness

Last year, Coco Gauff experienced the greatest moment of her professional life right here in New York. With the eyes of the sporting world upon her, the American came back from a set down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the finals of the U.S. Open.

The victory sealed the first major title of Gauff’s career, and at just 19-years-old she became the youngest American Grand Slam winner since Serena Williams won the U.S. Open in 1999 at 17-years-old.

As she sat in the press room fielding questions from reporters, Gauff reflected on not only her win, but how she has handled the pressure of being a young phenom.

“It’s been a long journey to this point. I wasn’t a fully developed player, and I still think I have a lot of development to go at that moment. I think people were putting a lot of pressure on me to win. I felt that, at 15, I had to win a Slam at 15,” she said. “But that was a little bit of the pressure that I was feeling. Now I just realize that I just need to go out there and try my best.”

Being in the limelight at such a young age, and constantly hearing comparisons to your idols such as Serena and Venus Williams placed a lot of unfair pressure on Gauff, and it certainly affected her.

“It was to the point where I remember I lose when I was 17, and there was a stat, they were like, ‘Oh, she’s not going to win a Slam before Serena’s age,” she recalled. “It was stuff like that that I felt like I had a time limit on when I should win one, and if I won after a certain age it wouldn’t be an achievement. It’s just crazy the amount of things that I have hatred or seen about myself, but I’m really happy with how I’ve been able to manage it all.”

Managing those pressures and expectations made Gauff grow up fast, a lot more rapidly than her peers who don’t happen to be famous athletes. But Gauff, as she seemingly has done since she broke onto the public scene, has remained mature beyond her years in dealing with the off-court noise, which has allowed her on-court play to thrive.

And now, as she has become used to, the next question for Gauff is, what’s next? With one major under her belt, the inevitable next task is when will she be able to secure another one. That is perhaps unfair to ask of someone who is still only 20-years-old, but it comes with the territory.

“I embrace it. I know how to keep my peace but also embrace all of this around me,” she said. “I think the pressure has been taken off a little bit, and I am still hungry for more.”

That hunger has resulted in a consistency for Gauff, and she now finds herself ranked second in the world in singles. In addition, Gauff continues to thrive on the doubles court. Earlier this spring, despite losing in the semifinals of the singles event at the French Open, to eventual champion Iga Swiatek, her tournament wasn’t over.

The young American paired with Katerina Siniakova to win the French Open doubles title. The unlikely pairing only came together just before the beginning of the event as both of their original partners were sidelined due to injury.

“This was kind of last-minute thrown out because of Jess’s [Pegula] injury, I just wasn’t even going to play at first,” said Gauff. “Then Taylor Townsend unfortunately rolled her ankle. She texted me about playing with Katerina. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ Obviously, she’s won multiple Slams in this sport, and we could have a good chance.”

The pairing had more than just a good chance and dropped just one set throughout the event, ultimately winning 7-6(5), 6-3 over the Italian pairing of Sara Errani & Jasmine Paolini in the championship.

Gauff had initially wanted to play with an American, with her first option being Pegula and Townsend being the second option, in anticipation of the Olympics in Paris this summer. Gauff will make her Olympic debut and representing the red, white and blue on the world stage, something she has been looking forward to.

“One of the goals I wrote down on my vision note, in my phone, was to win a medal in the Olympics,” Gauff said earlier this year. “I’ll be completely honest, I don’t really care what event it is in. I feel like a gold, silver or bronze, whatever medal it is, is one of those things it doesn’t matter. Well, it does matter. Obviously I want to win in singles. I feel like I would appreciate it just as much whether it was in singles or doubles. It’s not the same to me as a Slam, I guess, in a way, I just put, ‘I want a medal at any of the events.’”

The second half of the 2024 season is shaping up to be a busy one for Gauff. Following the French Open, she prepares for Wimbledon where she hopes to put together the best result of her career on the famed grass courts. After that, she returns to the clay courts of Paris to make her Olympic debut.

It’s then that she returns to the States and will attempt to defend her U.S. Open title. There will be a lot of pressure on her as she embarks on all of these tasks, especially at the Olympics and at the U.S. Open, where she will be a favorite at both events.

But Gauff is used to that, and is taking things in stride. Her maturity continues to grow which has allowed her to succeed despite the weight of everything upon her. She doesn’t take what she does for a living for granted, and that perspective has and will continue to help her thrive.

“She’s mature now, so she’s starting to educate herself on a lot of things,” said her father, Corey. “And, with all the things that are going on in life and in the world, just being more appreciative of the opportunity to be on the court. If you stick to that, and treat the sport like it’s a privilege to even be out there, then you get less mad about it and get less upset. I’ve never seen a champion with a bad attitude.”