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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 8, 2019

Cori Gauff

Wimbledon, London, England

S. HALEP/C. Gauff

6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How would you describe what you've learned from the experience here this week?
CORI GAUFF: I learned a lot. I learned how to play in front of a big crowd. I learned what it was like to be under pressure. I learned a lot and I'm really thankful for this experience.

Q. Seemed to be suffering from some kind of stomach problems out on the court.
CORI GAUFF: Yeah, I wasn't feeling 100% today. I still tried my best. Simona played really well.

Q. Can you tell us what was wrong?
CORI GAUFF: To be honest, I don't know, so have to figure that out.

Q. I think it's safe to say everyone in the UK absolutely adores you. When you get out on court, you almost have as much support as Andy Murray. Do you feel like you've almost had the advantage, home advantage, with the crowd behind you?
CORI GAUFF: Yeah, definitely. It was really surprising because you don't really expect this kind of support when you're in another country, not your home country. I really did feel like I was probably playing in New York somewhere.

But, yeah, I'm just really happy and happy that people believe in me.

Q. There is a famous quote here at Wimbledon, triumph and defeat. You experienced both here. Tell us a little bit, how did you face those two circumstances?
CORI GAUFF: Yeah, so I had a lot of fun. I still had fun out on the court today even though I was losing. I don't know how to describe how I feel now because, like, the match is still freshly new. We'll see how I feel in a couple hours.

Q. If someone had approached you as you were leaving Paris and said, In five, six weeks you'll be the toast of the town in London, reach the fourth round, what would you think?
CORI GAUFF: I'd be like, That's crazy. I mean, I lost second round of qualifying in Paris. Now I made it to the second week. I'm super proud of myself. I'm excited to see what I'll do at US Open and the next couple tournaments coming up.

Q. What quality do you think you showed the most here?
CORI GAUFF: Honestly, I can't really pick a certain match because I feel like every match --

Q. Not a match, but a quality within you.
CORI GAUFF: What was your question?

Q. What quality within you did you most show here?
CORI GAUFF: Definitely I would say my attitude on the court, continuing to fight for every point. That definitely helped me win the last three matches. I think if I keep that up, I'll keep doing well.

Q. You're still only 15 years old. How will you move on from this? Do you accept the rules of the WTA, restricted tournaments to play, or you say, No, I' fit, I'm healthy, I can play a full schedule from now?
CORI GAUFF: Yeah, I definitely understand why the rules are there. It's definitely to protect the player. But obviously I will want to play more. We'll see. I heard the rule is under review, so we'll see what happens there.

Q. Years and years from now, somebody asks you about, The first Wimbledon, what do you think will stick out in your mind as the strongest memory from this wild ride?
CORI GAUFF: Definitely the crowd. They've been amazing, like even this match. Even though I wasn't feeling my best, I wasn't playing my best, but they were still supporting me no matter what.

Q. What is the next goal for you looking forward for the next five, six months?
CORI GAUFF: So honestly, I don't know my schedule right now because I wasn't expecting to be here. But my next goal would be to win the next tournament I play. I don't know what the next tournament will be.

We'll see what happens. Hopefully I'll be playing some tournaments in the US Open Series, though.

Q. On the scheduling issue. If it were your choice, do you feel ready to go out on tour full-time? Would you like to play full-time now?
CORI GAUFF: Even if the restrictions weren't there, I still think I wouldn't play, like, as much as players do, the older players do, just because I'm still trying to develop my game and I'm still trying to train.

I feel like I would obviously play more than the rules state, but I think I wouldn't try to overdo it because I'm still 15. My game isn't nearly as good as I want it to be. Taking more time to train.

Q. I think this was your seventh game in a fortnight. How much of a factor was fatigue today? In the first set particularly, did you feel perhaps you let an opportunity get away? Simona wasn't looking invincible.
CORI GAUFF: I feel like I wasn't tired today. I don't know what I came with. Like I went to the doctor. I'm supposed to be coming back tomorrow to figure that out.

But I don't think I was tired because of the matches. I honestly think something must have just came in the past weekend. We'll see what it was tomorrow.

Q. Do you consider yourself to be a good or bad loser? Do you still watch tournaments when you go out of them, whether you'll keep watching Wimbledon?
CORI GAUFF: I would say a little bit of both. I would say I'm a bad loser not in a bad way, but I kind of take it hard. I think that's a good thing because I kind of use that to motivate myself to work harder. I would say I'm a good loser, mix of bad. But I think the bad is kind of what makes me better, I guess.

Q. Who do you tip to win?
CORI GAUFF: I don't know. I haven't been able to watch a lot of matches this week, so I don't know how everyone's playing. But I'm definitely going to continue to watch the tournament obviously and try to learn some more.

Q. The tournament started miles away in Roehampton. It's been two weeks. Does it feel longer than that?
CORI GAUFF: It definitely feels like everything happened so quickly. Each day has been going by pretty quickly mostly just because most of the time I've been finishing pretty late in my matches. The day is kind of like over by the time I get on court.

But these past two weeks have been amazing. I'm excited to be back next year.

Q. Outside of tennis, do you have an idol, someone who really inspires you?
CORI GAUFF: Yeah. Beyonce, Rihanna, Michelle Obama. It's many people. The list goes on.

I mostly look up to the females because, you know... I have a lot of on-court and off-court role models. I would say the off-court role models shape my personality a lot, then the on-court role models kind of shape my game.

Q. You seemed annoyed to lose today. You lost to a former world No. 1, so there's obviously no disgrace in that. Is the fact that you were annoyed a sign of how competitive and ambitious you are?
CORI GAUFF: I don't feel like I was annoyed. I was obviously disappointed. I mean, I would be disappointed in any loss no matter if I was playing a former world No. 1 or somebody younger than me. I think I just need to go back to work and keep working hard and get ready for my next couple tournaments.

Q. Serena said herself that she was nothing compared to you when she was your age. She said it was incredible how much more you were at this stage. She was really impressed by that. I don't know if you've talked to her about that. If so, what is your response?
CORI GAUFF: Yeah, I haven't spoken to her since she said that. I didn't know she said that. But that's pretty cool that they said that.

Obviously, I mean, I still look up to her, even though we're playing the same tournament. I feel like I'll always kind of look up to her until we one day face each other on the other side. And win or lose, I'll still look up to her. So it's fine.

Q. What do you make of all the attention on you, not just the crowd reaction, but the TV, the papers, social media? Did you follow all that during the matches?
CORI GAUFF: It's amazing. I kind of don't know how the rest of the world reacted because I'm still in London. Even, like, with all that's going on, I still felt I was in a bubble. I mean, I've just been going to tournament, hotel, tournament, hotel because I've been finishing so late.

But I'm excited to go home now and see my family. I saw a video, they were saying they were so proud of me. That kind of makes me happy.

Q. The former first lady Michelle Obama gave you a shout-out on Twitter.
CORI GAUFF: Yeah.

Q. How did that feel?
CORI GAUFF: It meant a lot to me because I've looked up to her for a long time. She's such a role model. I mean, I was really shocked. I wasn't expecting that. That was probably one of the least expected.

I don't even know who I was expecting from. Some of the celebrities that tweeted me I didn't even know followed tennis. They probably don't follow tennis, but...

I don't know, it's crazy how big this has gotten.

Q. Is it almost daunting to try to get into context how much your life has changed over this past week or so? How do you get back to doing the high school work now? You're due to finish this summer?
CORI GAUFF: Yeah, I literally have two weeks left. I probably could have been done if I didn't play this, but I'm so close. My teachers definitely let me take a break a little after this so I could focus on my matches.

To answer your first question, I'm just going to go get back to work. I'm going to rest obviously for a couple days. I don't know where we're going to go. Definitely going to take like a mini weekend family vacation. I don't know where we'll go.

I'm excited to just kind of chill for a little bit.

Q. When you played on Friday, there was no space inside or outside the court. The same today. Did you feed off the crowd? Do you think maybe next time you could make more use of that?
CORI GAUFF: Yeah, I definitely used the crowd a lot, especially both matches. Even today, they were definitely giving me extra motivation. Sometimes, like, it's hard. You're out there alone. They kind of make you feel like you have teammates I guess.

Tennis is definitely different from other sports. I think having the crowd is definitely an advantage considering you don't really have anyone on the courts to cheer you on.

Q. Last year in Paris you said you definitely wanted to go to college. Do you still intend to do that now?
CORI GAUFF: Well, I'm going to do it online. I still want to go to college. Kind of like a requirement, I guess, from my parents. Obviously I'm still going to be playing professional. I'm definitely going to take some online courses.

I mean, I'm still fairly new to high school, so I haven't figured all that out yet.

Q. This was something of your introduction to the world for many new fans, people beyond tennis. What do you hope they learned about you?
CORI GAUFF: I hope they learned about me that I'm a fighter. I'll never give up. I hope they learned from me that, I mean, anything is possible if you work hard, just continue to dream big.

I mean, like I said, if somebody told me this maybe three weeks ago, I probably wouldn't believe it. But I think just putting in the work definitely raised my confidence because I knew how hard I worked and I knew what shots I could make and what was possible.

I'm only 15. Like, I've not nearly gotten or developed my game. I started tennis at six. I'm so excited to see, if I continue to work hard, what other success I can do in the future.

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