Coco Gauff admitted that her father doesn't always have the best reactions during a match, which is why he's often not present in her box.
For most of her career, the American traveled with her father, who served as coach. He looked up to Richard Williams in his efforts to help his daughter pursue her tennis dream, and it worked out really well.
He saw the returns of his work quite early in her career, which helped her develop into one of the best tennis players on the WTA Tour.
Coco doesn't travel as often with her father anymore, but they do link up every now and then. It's a tight relationship, but there are some things she's not exactly thrilled about.
The 20-year-old spoke about it during a recent interview with TIME Magazine, explaining that some of her father's reactions can put her off.
"My dad, he doesn’t give the best reactions in the box. He’s a very emotional person. Sometimes when I lose a point, the first thing I look at is the box. And there’s something more reassuring seeing somebody clapping."
It's not that unusual because we have seen the parents of players react like that before. What's interesting about this dynamic is that her father wasn't in her box for the Citi Open in Washington or the Cincinnati Open, and she won both events.
She also won the US Open, where he was in the stands but in a suite and not necessarily in her box. He watched some matches away from the stands, where he was able to experience the full emotional roller coaster.
These days, Gauff mostly looks towards coach Brad Gilbert, who is very present in her box. He's not the most animated guy during a match, which helps her calm down as she's quite energetic and animated herself.
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