Teenage tennis sensation Coco Gauff has had an impressive start to her pro career. She recently took part in the Grass Court Championships Berlin and made it to the semi-final before losing to Tunisian Ons Jabeur.
Coco Gauff turned pro in 2018. She burst onto the scene with a stunning first-round win against 7-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams at the 2019 Wimbledon tournament. Gauff repeated the feat once again as she defeated the veteran in the first round of the 2020 Australian Open.
The 18-year-old Gauff delivered her best performance in a Grand Slam in the recently concluded French Open competition. She was phenomenal throughout the tournament and reached the finals before losing to current world No. 1 ranked player Iga Swiatek.
Gauff is the ‘June supplement cover star’ of Telegraph Women’s Sport. She deserved it after delivering some stunning performances at such a young age.
“I think I’ve learnt a lot over the last three years,” – Coco Gauff
The youngster spoke to Telegraph Sport about her journey till now and how her win against Venus Williams three years ago made her believe that her dreams were realistic.
“I think I’ve learnt a lot over the last three years,” she says now. “That moment – beating Venus at Wimbledon – made me believe that my dreams were closer to reality than it felt. It was definitely a lot to deal with. The biggest thing I’ve learnt is you don’t have to care about what other people expect from you. Just enjoy the moment. I wasn’t enjoying the moment then.”
Gauff revealed that she gets emotional when people support her regardless of whether she is winning or losing. When she was younger, she thought she would be liked only when she is winning.
“People come up to me and say they support me regardless of whether I win or lose, and it almost brings me to tears,” she says. “Because when I was younger, even 15 or 16, I would think that people would only like me if I won.”
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