"I feel like I’m rising to the occasion" - Coco Gauff ahead of 2022 US Open
WTA
Coco Gauff feels like she mentally improved recently, and she was proud of that ahead of the 2022 US Open.
The young American player will enter the last Grand Slam tournament of the season as one of the dark horses. She is one of the players who could win the US Open, but she must be at her best, both physically and mentally.
Only recently, at the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, her mentality was tested. Not once, but twice. First, she played a close three-setter with Elena Rybakina, who she beat 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(3). Then, she also bested Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4).
It was in that match against Sabalenka when Gauff felt like she started being too negative. Luckily for her, she realized it soon enough and was able to act on it.
"I was reverting back to old mentalities. I got to a point where I was being too negative on myself. And I said if I was going to lose, I’m not going to lose like this. So I had to change. And that’s what I did."
She's aware that if she wants to win Grand Slam titles, she has to beat players like Sabalenka and Rybakina. That's why the two wins in Cincinnati gave her confidence ahead of the New York Slam.
"These are the type of players I need to have to beat if I want to win a Grand Slam. So these matches are giving me more confidence. For me I needed these matches leading up into the US Open."
Apart from improving mentally, Gauff also feels like she improved her shots. Her forehand, in particular, has been one of her weaknesses, and she feels like she has made a "drastic improvement" when it comes to her forehand.
"I think you guys can see on my forehand and my serve there’s definitely been a drastic improvement. I think that right now I feel like I’m rising to the occasion. Whereas before I felt like I was almost crumbling to the pressure because I was trying to deflect it."
