Coco Gauff has outlined the huge impact of her father in recent comments at the 2024 Dubai Championships.
The US Open champion suffered a setback last week in Doha. In her first match since her Australian Open semifinal loss to Aryna Sabalenka, Gauff lost in straight sets to Katerina Siniakova.
However, she is back on track this week in Dubai. After beating Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the opening round, Gauff recovered from losing the first set to triumph against Karolina Pliskova in round 2.
The American No. 1 added Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick's former coach Brad Gilbert to her coaching team before her US Open win last year, and he has received praise for his positive impact on Gauff's game.
But Gauff's journey started years before Gilbert arrived, and no one had a bigger impact than her father, Corey. Gauff discussed how grateful she is for what her father did to support her to this point.
"He's said 'I never thought in a million years my daughter would play tennis', because to be honest, in the black community, it's not a major sport, and it's super expensive. So I'm really grateful that my dad found a way to put me on this stage and hopefully I can always make him proud."
Gauff also mentioned that although her father still helps her, he also knew when the right time to take a step back from being as actively involved in his daughter's career was.
"He's always involved and he's helping me in every moment, making sure I have the right people in the team and he still gives me advice on the court and everything. But for him, he always said like, 'If I could help her, get to her first one (major), that would be my time to step back."
Finally, Gauff also praised her father for letting her follow her own dream, which she feels makes him different from other dads on the WTA Tour.
"I think the difference between a lot of the dads on tour and my dad is it was never his dream, it was always my dream. I was always the motivation behind it and being his child, he was just like, 'How can I help her accomplish her dreams?"
0 Comments