Tracy Austin had the expectations of a nation on her shoulders at one point in her career, so she knows very well how it felt for Coco Gauff during the US Open.
Austin is a former player who won 30 titles in her career and was number one on the WTA Tour at one point. She also won two Grand Slam trophies, which Gauff has yet to do. Nobody questions whether Gauff will do it, especially after she won her maiden Grand Slam trophy against Aryna Sabalenka in pretty difficult circumstances.
While it might have looked pretty easy on the court, it really wasn't. She was under tremendous pressure to deliver a good result, especially as she approached the prize. As someone who carried the hopes of an entire nation, Tracy Austin knows how difficult it is.
Speaking to tennis.com, Austin shared how impressed she was with the way Gauff handled the US Open run especially since the final didn't really go smoothly either.
I was impressed by how well Coco managed the pressure on her way to winning the US Open. Having won the US Open as a teenager myself, I can relate to the expectations Coco has long faced.
The road to winning the US Open obviously didn't start there. Gauff hit some pretty low moments in the weeks before, which sparked the need to change. Bringing in Brad Gilbert was a huge move that worked out far better than anybody thought it would.
Did she win solely because of that? Of course not, but you can't deny it helped. That likely would have never happened had she not crashed out badly out of Wimbledon.
A tough first-round loss at Wimbledon motivated her to make a change, adding the highly experienced Brad Gilbert to her coaching team. She then had a turnaround summer, winning titles in D.C. and Cincinnati and arrived in New York with justifiably high hopes. Every time Coco played, the American crowd was heavily in her corner. And every time, Coco competed like a champion.
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