|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE CHAMPIONSHIPSJuly 5, 2019Cori GauffWimbledon, London, England C. GAUFF/P. Hercog 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 CORI GAUFF: I know this is off topic, but I wanted to say please stream Erys by Jaden Smith. His album dropped yesterday (smiling). THE MODERATOR: Coco Gauff, first question, please. Q. When you were match point down on Centre Court, were you thinking, What would Venus and Serena do? CORI GAUFF: No. I was just thinking I need to go for my shots. I can't play pushing. I don't know. Really, to be honest, I kind of just went out there and just hoped the ball went in the court. I'm just happy that challenge came back as in. Q. In the last point, the ball goes over your head, what was going through your head, when you see it go out? CORI GAUFF: Well, when it was going overhead, I was like, Please go out, please. Then after when I was jumping, I was like, Wow, I can't believe it. It's been one long match, it's finally over. Q. What is a better thing for you, that you won today or that Jaden's album is out? CORI GAUFF: Both. I was super happy that his album came out because it's been long-anticipated, at least for me. Q. My real question... You had to hit a lot of slices today. CORI GAUFF: Yes. Q. You said you only just started incorporating it into your game. CORI GAUFF: Yeah. Q. How do you feel you dealt with that? CORI GAUFF: Well, I want to thank my coach, JC, for making me do all those slice drills. He knows I hate them. But it came in handy today. Also thanks to Courtney for slicing today in my warmup because I was, like, Just hit the ball. He's like, No, I'm slicing. Thank you. Q. A lot of players who step out on the main stadium at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time will talk afterwards about being nervous, the moment maybe feeling too big. For you at any point today was there a bit of a 'wow' moment? Any nerves at all? What was your mindset when you were down 5-2 in the second set? CORI GAUFF: So when I was walking on the court, I kind of wasn't nervous, but I was just like, Wow, I'm really on Centre Court. One of the most sacred courts in the world. When I was down 5-2, I was just like, I can fight back. Just need to hold serve, break, then we'll see what happens from there. Q. A lot of the fans initially were quite waiting for Andy Murray and Serena Williams to come, a crowd on the hill. At the end they were standing up and cheering for you. The reaction in the stadium was fantastic. CORI GAUFF: Yeah. Q. They were expecting to see Andy and Serena, but were entertained by you. CORI GAUFF: Well, I'm happy that they enjoyed watching me play. Even when I was down match point, the people in the crowd were behind me every step of the way. That's something I really appreciated during the match. I don't know, it's just crazy. I remember before I played Venus, as you know, when you walk to leave the practice courts, there are people waiting. One little kid asked me for a picture. Then after the next day, after I played Venus, everybody was screaming my name. It was pretty surreal how life changes in a matter of seconds. Q. Everything is coming so fast. Now you make the second week, which is amazing. Did they advise you to slow down a little bit or change? How do you see yourself, afraid of getting too excited? How do you feel? CORI GAUFF: Well, in this moment I just feel relieved that it's over. My parents are just telling me to stay calm, stay focused because the tournament is not over yet. That's what I've been kind of celebrating the night after the matches, then the next day back to practice. Looking forward to my next round. Q. In the first two matches you made only 18 unforced errors. Today in the beginning you were not so accurate, you made quite a few mistakes. Was that nerves because she was playing well? What was the problem? How do you think you came out of it? Did the double-fault of her help you? CORI GAUFF: The first question, I think I made more errors today because she was playing really well. I felt like I had to go bigger because she was hitting so many forehand winners. I knew that I had to hit bigger. I think I was trying to hit too big to a point where I was missing a lot. When she double-faulted on match point, she didn't hit many double-faults the whole match, so I got kind of lucky. She went T for the first or second time on the second serve. I was surprised she didn't try to go kick wide, because that's what I was kind of anticipating. Q. For all your focus match to match, how conscious were you of the wider craze that your story here is stirring? What was the most unexpected message you received? CORI GAUFF: The most unexpected message I received -- well, it wasn't really a message. Miss Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mom, posted me on Instagram. I was, like, screaming. I don't know, like I hope Beyonce saw that. I hope she told her daughter about me because I would love to go to a concert. A funny story, though. Actually my parents told me to baby-sit my brothers. They didn't tell me where they were going. Then I see on Facebook that they're at the Beyonce and Jay-Z concert. I was so mad. I told them I wanted to go. They're like, We'll be back in a couple hours. Then I see on Facebook they're in Miami at Beyonce and Jay-Z. Q. It was a long match. Did you find it hard to keep up the energy you needed? CORI GAUFF: I don't know if it was the longest match I had ever. I wasn't really tired. I knew I could go longer. I saw she called the physio, she started getting ice. I knew eventually she would get tired. I was kind of staying in it. I'm young, I have a lot of energy. I'm used to playing two matches a day sometimes from juniors. We have to do that. It wasn't too difficult. Q. When you came to Wimbledon, you break lots of records. Is it the first time you are in Centre Court? What was your feeling when you stood on the court? CORI GAUFF: Well, yeah, this was my first time actually playing on Centre Court. I've been on Centre Court before watching Roger and Serena, but never on the court. Centre Court now, since Court 1 has the roof, they look identical. I wasn't really fazed too much. Obviously it's a little bit bigger. I don't really look in the crowd too much. It was fine. Q. How have your parents been in terms of helping you with the psychological side of it? They've had successful sporting careers. You look like you cope with the pressure well. What input have they had on the psychological side of dealing with all of this? CORI GAUFF: They have the biggest input, especially my mom. She definitely changed my mindset in how I look on things. My dad, he's the reason why I dream so big. I think the kind of believing part of my dad and the more stay focused, stay calm of my mom is like a good mix. They definitely work together well to tell me the right things. My mom kind of has to coach my dad sometimes because she doesn't really like to play the coach role, because I already have my dad as my coach. She just likes to play the mother role. Sometimes she tells him things, mostly not really dealing with tennis, but just dealing with how I act, how composed I stay on the court. Q. Speaking of your mom, being focused, she's going a little bit viral back home in the States. CORI GAUFF: Oh, no. Q. Based off her chest pumping, going nuts. CORI GAUFF: Please tell me she's a meme. I'm so excited to go on Instagram. Q. Can you talk a little bit about what that moment was like after the second set, your mom was pretty excited. Have you ever seen her that excited at one of your matches? CORI GAUFF: No. I look at my dad mostly. But actually right after the match, I went on Instagram, I saw her going something like this after. I was like -- I didn't tell her, but she's going to go viral, I know. She's going to be a meme. I'm going to retweet it and everything. So I'm excited. Q. Does it seem like one consistent process or is this really, truly an incredible moment for you? CORI GAUFF: Honestly, I feel like it's a mix of both. I feel like you kind of have to experience the down moments to be able to experience the high. But I don't think this is just a one-time thing. I mean, I won three matches now, so I think I kind of proved my own. Like, I don't know, I think it's a mix of both. Obviously this moment is an incredible moment. I'm still excited I get to keep living it. I think the reason I lost those matches kind of helped me get here. You really learn a lot from your loss. You don't learn too much when you win a lot. I think just losing the tough, tough matches definitely prepared me for today. Q. You face Simona on Monday. How familiar are you with her game? CORI GAUFF: Who do I play? Q. Simona Halep. CORI GAUFF: Okay. I watch her a lot obviously. I've never hit with her or anything or practiced with her. I don't know how the ball would feel when I actually play, but I'm really familiar how she plays just from watching her a lot. Q. I've heard stories that the really great athletes know they're going to win, they feel it in their bones, believe in destiny. Do you believe in destiny, that you're going to win this tournament, be the greatest? CORI GAUFF: I don't know. I don't really believe in fate and destiny. I feel like you can kind of change your own world. Like sometimes fate can always not be a good thing. Sometimes fate can be a bad thing. I try not to think of it as my destiny or whatever. I feel like if I do think about it like that, then my head's going to get big. I'm always hearing, You're going to do this one day, do that one day. If I kind of relax now, then that won't happen. I try not to think of it like that. I take it just one tournament at a time. Q. You gave yourself a grade A after Venus. How do you grade yourself today? Have you ever spoken to any of the people like Andrea Jaeger or Martina Hingis, the people who were great when they were teenagers? CORI GAUFF: Before every match, I've been speaking to Mary Joe Fernandez. She's been giving me awesome advice. I'm very grateful. It definitely means a lot to hear a little bit of insight. She told me things she wish she would have did. I really appreciate that from her. Q. On the grade? CORI GAUFF: A. Q. The conventional wisdom is that with experience, once confidence grows, it gets easier to play. How would you describe what it's been like for you this week match by match? CORI GAUFF: Match by match, I feel like playing big servers the past three matches definitely helped because I know Venus match, I wish that I returned a little bit better. The next match, I returned well. Today Polona was serving amazing. I was just kind of trying to get as many returns back as I could. I'm definitely learning from each match. Obviously playing on Court 1 helped prepare me for Centre Court. Seeing that crowd and hearing how they react sometimes in the middle of the point, they get excited. I'm just getting a little bit of experience match by match. Q. The confidence level, how has that fluctuated, if at all? Has it grown from match to match? CORI GAUFF: I feel like it's always been the same. Like, I feel like I've always been confident in myself. I think I learned that I'm capable of doing a lot of things. I feel like my confidence has been the same the whole tournament. Q. You've played six matches until now, but only against unseeded players. Are you expecting a different kind of match against Simona? CORI GAUFF: I mean, she's a different player from all the players I played. They're all different in their own way. So every match I think is different. But I don't think because she's seeded will change me at all. Q. You're not near 16 yet. You just won the best part of $200,000 for winning this game today. CORI GAUFF: Okay, cool. That's cool (smiling). Q. Can you imagine buying yourself something, doing something with it? CORI GAUFF: I mean, I can't buy a car because I can't drive. I don't know. I hate spending money, to be honest. I don't really know. Maybe I'm going to buy some more MSFTSrep, which is Jaden's line, buy some hoodies from that. Q. You can buy a lot of hoodies. CORI GAUFF: I love wearing hoodies. My mom, she bans me from buying hoodies for two months. Every week I was getting new hoodies sent to the house. I don't know, I like wearing them because at home you can't wear them because it's so hot. I try to wear them as much as possible on the road. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|