"I feel a relief" - Gauff after playing her first Grand Slam final
WTA
Despite losing in the final of the 2022 Roland Garros to Iga Swiatek in two sets, Coco Gauff can leave her tournament with her head up as she showed some great performances throughout the event.
Moreover, the tournament is not yet over for her as she will play the final of the doubles with her doubles partner Jessica Pegula on Sunday. So after finishing as the runner-up in singles, the American can still leave the French capital with the winners' trophy.
After her loss in the singles final, Gauff was naturally disappointed, but at the same time, the American player was happy about reaching a major final, as it was her first one.
"I feel like throughout my career, and even in juniors, the reason I had success so early is that I was able to see that level and then go back and practice and try to reach that level."
"Now that I have seen the level, this level of No.1 and 35 matches [won in a row], I know that what I have to do. I'm sure I'm going to play her in another final and hopefully it's a different result. I just think even when I was 15, 16, 17, I felt like so much pressure to make a final. Now that I made it, I feel like a relief a little bit."
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Gauff also realized that at the highest level of tennis, it often isn't about hitting a perfect forehand or backhand, but instead, having the mentality to win matches.
"I guess the journey to get here, I realized the key to making the final was not something with my game or something that I needed to fix. It was more with my mentality and how I entered the matches."
"I think that's what I think the difference between me dreaming it and reality, I realized that, yes, it's hard to get here, but also, it's not like some master puzzle that you need to solve. You just kind of have to get your mind in the right place."
"I think over the years watching other players get to the semis and you see that sometimes they kind of freak out, or in the final and they kind of freak out. A lot of times I feel like they think it's something wrong with their game or this shot isn't working. Really, it's not."
