Coco Gauff might be one of the most successful players on the WTA Tour, but she still wants to prove her haters wrong.
The 20-year-old American's career is still in its early stages, but she has already spent half of the decade competing since she broke through as a 15-year-old prodigy at the Wimbledon Championships in 2019.
Since then, she has earned millions of fans around the world, but naturally, also those who don't support her, and in some cases, do the exact opposite by doubting her.
Gauff has been on record for wanting to prove the doubters wrong, something she did by winning the 2023 US Open. Now, she can win another big title, as she reached the final of the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh.
To get there, the young American stunned the World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, and previously, she also bested the World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, proving that her run was not a fluke.
At the event, Gauff spoke about her motivation and what motivates her to stay motivated in matches such as the one against Barbora Krejcikova in the round-robin stage, which didn't impact her chances of reaching the semi-finals.
The World No. 3 player admitted that pettiness and wanting to prove her haters wrong is something that motivates her, as she wants to 'let her racket do the talking' after seeing some of the comments about her.
"I think, for me, I think honestly, pettiness. Yeah, I think, that's really the answer. I think I just love to be, like, say I'm right and stuff, and obviously, it doesn't work. I don't win all the time, but I got a lot of comments about how I was going to lose badly. So I was just like, 'Okay, we'll see'."
"I think it's honestly just liking the idea of just proving people wrong and letting your racket do the talking."
Reading comments can also be negative. It can serve as a great tool for athletes to motivate themselves, but if used incorrectly, it can have the opposite effect.
That's why Gauff had to learn how to use the negative comments. Previously, she saw them as pressure, but now, she has learned to turn them into motivation, and it works for her perfectly.
"I use it as motivation. And before, I used to use it as pressure and I was like, you know, the expectations are always going to be there for me, and I kind of turned it into like, people are expecting so much from you, so that means people see potential in you, so you should see the potential in yourself."
To achieve that, Gauff trained her mind, and it's the improved mindset that she credited for her ability to use negativity as motivation.
"I think it's just training your mind to think these things, whether that's how the person intended it, probably not. But, if you trick your mind, it's crazy you know how your mind's daily mindset and daily thoughts and decisions can change."