Winning a Grand Slam tournament is the pinnacle for most tennis players, and it can often bring laxity in tennis ambitions.
Some players see it as a direct ticket to retirement, and several others feel relieved at achieving a lifelong dream and will be content playing second fiddle for the remainder of their careers. For others, like Coco Gauff, it only fuels their desire for more.
Following her remarkable second-round win over Clara Burel at the Indian Wells Open, Gauff sat on the Tennis Channel newsdesk, where she dwelled on the euphoria that followed her maiden Grand Slam win. Last September, the 19-year-old became the youngest American to win the US Open since Serena Williams.
The success in front of her family and friends catapulted Gauff into tennis folklore and, most importantly, elevated her status as the new face of American tennis. Recently, Gauff talked about the immediate feeling of winning a major tournament and compared it to a drug that you want more of.
Having been around the main tour since the age of 15, the Delray native already feels like a veteran as she prepares to blow the candles for her 20th birthday this week. She'll also be looking to reach the fourth round at the California desert for the second year in a row.
"I don't think it's impacted me at all, because I always wanted to win and I think that once you win and in some cases it makes people relax a little bit more, in other cases it just makes you want to work even more and I think for me it just makes me want to work even more."
"I don't want my story just to stop at US Open, so hopefully I can you know do more in this game. I still feel like, I mean I feel like I'm early in my career, sometimes it feels like it's late I don't know just been here for 5 years and I'm only 20. I don't know it just feels like a long time well. Not 20 yet almost there. Honestly it does (feel like a veteran)."
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