'I'm Just Beginning': Gauff On Being Younger Than Majority Of Her Opponents
WTAMonday, 31 July 2023 at 04:40
Updated at Wednesday, 13 August 2025 at 15:55
Coco Gauff is among the best tennis players on the WTA Tour, but she's also one of the youngest, which bodes well for her future.
The American player has been a regular on Tour pretty much since she was 16 years old, and over time, she's become one of the best players in the world. It's a very impressive set of achievements for a player who is still younger than most players by the time they start playing regularly on Tour.
She's been in a Grand Slam final before, one she deemed very bad overall because it ended the way it did. As she's getting more and more experience, Gauff is shifting her mentality to appreciate all those runs because getting to a final is extremely hard. After all, painful losses are part of a tennis career.
"I made the finals of the French Open, and it felt like I had a bad tournament. Immediately after, I was like, ‘That tournament was bad.’ Because you get so close to your goal, it just makes it feel even worse when it doesn’t happen."
"I think it’s just finding the balance — it’s still something that I struggle with, trying not to base all my success on the Grand Slams. But, you know, when those are your biggest goals, it’s hard not to. Thinking about the way I’m playing is going to do better for me in the long run than thinking about whether I lose or win."
The point of it all is to realize that she still has plenty of time to get better and achieve some of the results she wants to achieve. She was even asked by the Washington Post about what might happen in a few years, and she doesn't know, but one thing she knows is that she still has time.
"I don’t even know when my prime would be. Based on everyone else right now, 23 or 24 is when I would start to feel really good. Maturity-wise, there’s a lot I can learn. I’m still confused about how the tour is run, especially the business side of it when it comes to prize money and accommodations and press."
"There are definitely certain areas I just learn about by hearing other players talking, and I’m like, ‘I didn’t even think about that perspective.’ … Compared to the majority of the tour, I’m just beginning in a way."
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