Coco Gauff is eager to put her track and field skills into good use again and wants to test herself against fellow WTA peers in a 400-meter race.
Gauff earned a comfortable win over Italy's Jasmine Paolini at the Cincinnati Masters quarterfinal and will meet World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the last four on Saturday afternoon. Speaking to the media after her win at the Cincinnati Masters, Gauff is looking forward to improving her track record against the Pole and is confident of staying in the moment mentally.
Later on in the presser, a journalist posed an interesting question to the teenage phenom to name the players who could give her a run for her money on the track field. The 19-year-old is one of the quickest players on the WTA Tour, and her ability to accelerate in fewer steps also enables her to cover the court pretty effectively.
Gauff named fellow American Alycia Parks as a fast mover adding that she's got a good stride in her. Another player is her next opponent in Cincinnati - Iga Swiatek. Gauff is keen to test the waters and laid the challenge, and while she reckons she might have the edge, but not in a 100 meters sprint.
"Hundred meters? I don't know. I'm really not that great at the hundred meters. Oh, that's a tough question. I think Alycia Parks, she's pretty quick and has a good stride. Iga is pretty quick, too. I think those two would give me a run."
"I would be curious to test it, to be honest. I do feel like I am the faster mover, to be honest. I'd be really interested. But I think the 400 is really my race. I did run track. I guess on tennis terms, I think the hundred would be good for me. Against any other athlete, I need the 400 to even have the chance."
Gauff then described her track and field history. While growing up in Atlanta, her parents advised her to try different sports including being a track and field athlete which was her mother's speciality at Florida State University. A young Coco would dominate her peers in the 400m race regularly but chose not to pursue it professionally, as it was purely for fun purposes.
"I did the 800 when I ran track. I really only did it because I told the coach I couldn't come to any of the practices because I was focused on tennis. He was, Okay, you'll run the 800 because nobody wanted to run the 800. I would really crush people off of beating them in the 400."
"Everybody said I should run 400. I was like, I'm not going to take one of my teammates' spots, this is actually their life, and this is just something I'm doing for fun. I'll just stick to the 800. When I did the four-by-four, I was the last leg, I was the leg that tried to make up all the time. I did pretty well."
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