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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 3, 2019

Cori Gauff

Wimbledon, London, England

C. GAUFF/M. Rybarikova

6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I talked to your mom about how you always had a lot of successes in your career, know how to reset and move on. After beating Venus, how much did it feel like a normal couple days?
CORI GAUFF: I could lie and say I felt normal. It was honestly so hard just with social media and everything trying to focus on my next match because people are still posting about Venus.

I just tried my best to reset. That night, literally, I think I went to bed at 12:30 a.m. At 12 a.m. I was going to enjoy this until then and then it's a new day tomorrow.

Q. Because the first round was against Venus and the buildup, was it hard to get yourself set correctly for the second-round match?
CORI GAUFF: Yeah, definitely it was. I wasn't expecting any of this. A lot of celebrities were DM'ing, posting me. I'm kind of star struck. It's been hard to reset. I don't know.

Q. How disappointed were you back at Roland Garros when you lost in the quallies? You took it pretty hard. Did that play a role in your motivation?
CORI GAUFF: I definitely kind of took it hard, but not so much. I knew that I composed myself on the court. I did the best I can at the moment. But it definitely motivated me. I was like, I need to work harder if I want to get to where I want to go.

I think that everything happens for a reason. That definitely kind of helped me set my mind and get ready for these next couple weeks.

Q. You mentioned some of the celebrities. Can you name any of the names?
CORI GAUFF: One is Navia Robinson. She's an actress. My little brother actually watches one of the shows she's on. Storm Reid, another actor, she's in a new series Euphoria. I can't even name them, so many of them. It's just, like, a lot going on right now.

Q. Given all the things you've experienced, many for the first time in the last three days, how would you describe the last three days?
CORI GAUFF: The last three days have definitely just kind of been surprising. It just shows if you really work hard, you can get where you want to go. Last week around this time, didn't know I was coming here. It just shows you have to be ready for everything.

Like I said before, I believe everything happens for a reason. People were telling me to keep working hard and your time will come, yeah.

Q. With the attention you're getting, messages from celebrities, are you going to have to do anything different? Are you going to have to switch off social media or just keep trying to do it all the same way?
CORI GAUFF: Surprisingly social media kind of relaxes me before the match. That's what I kind of do. Not really Instagram so much. I kind of just watch YouTube videos before my match. It gets me in a laughing spirit or whatever.

Right now I'm going to keep everything the same because it's been working.

Q. You talked about proving if you work hard you can get to where you're trying to go. What is part of your routine of working hard to get where you want to go?
CORI GAUFF: Honestly, these last couple weeks, when they say, Practice over, let's do one more. I've been like, Hit the ball harder to me. Telling my training partner Courtney, I need you to hit the ball harder, we need to do more rounds.

I didn't know this would happen. Looking back on these few weeks, I can see how maybe that little extra time definitely helped.

I remember after some my practice, I would run, like a sprint a block, see how fast I could do it. Basically I was running as fast as I could for three minutes after a lot of my practices, which was really challenging, considering Florida is, like, so hot right now. So yeah.

Q. What is the funniest thing that happened to you in these two days? 18 only unforced errors in two matches. Did you play better than the other day?
CORI GAUFF: The funniest thing that probably happened, definitely my family FaceTiming me. They're all jumping up and screaming in front of the TV.

I don't even know how I played, if I played better today or not. I like to say maybe I played a little better. I don't think I got broken this match. I think definitely playing against Venus, she's another big server. Playing today, the girl, she was hitting some bombs out there. That kind of set me up and got me ready for this next match.

Q. What kind of advice are you getting the last couple days from your parents or coaches, words of wisdom that are sticking with you?
CORI GAUFF: They just told me, You have another match. The tournament's not over. Don't focus too much on what happened. My goal is to win it.

They just told me, Keep yourself grounded. I think I've always just done a good job of that because I just kind of -- I don't know, I don't overlook things. I just kind of, like -- I don't know, it's complicated. I just kind of try to minor the light I guess.

Q. Do you know how Kawhi Leonard is low-key?
CORI GAUFF: Yes.

Q. Are you like that?
CORI GAUFF: I think I talk a little bit more and express myself a little bit more than him. I mean, it's working for him. We'll see where he goes. I'm excited to see when the announcement happens.

Q. You said the tournament is not over. How far do you look in the draw? Have you looked to the next round?
CORI GAUFF: No. I have no idea who I play in the next round.

Q. Polona Hercog.
CORI GAUFF: Thank you.

In my interview right off court, she told me I played Wozniacki. Then my agent told me I played someone else. I was confused on who I played because I didn't actually look at the draw.

I don't ever look. I just look at my next round. Thank you for telling me.

Q. Do you know about her?
CORI GAUFF: I don't know much. I'm going to look at some film tomorrow. Right now I'm just going to eat and go to sleep.

Q. Has it just been tennis, tennis, tennis? A chance to sightsee or anything?
CORI GAUFF: Not really. Considering I'm always last on. My days have been pretty long. My first time I was to London, I think I was 12. It was with my brother, it was just like a little three-day weekend or whatever. I got to see a lot there. Definitely after the tournament is over, I'm going to see some of London.

Q. You don't have that many wildcards you can get this year. How exciting is it to get your ranking in the top 200 which can get you guaranteed into slam quallies for the next couple slams? How much do you look at that with the limits you have?
CORI GAUFF: So I don't really look at my ranking too much. Most of the time I know what my ranking is because of interviews. I don't focus too much on how many wildcards I have. My parents keep track of that.

But I'm definitely obviously very happy that my ranking has gone up. It will be a lot easier to get into tournaments. Hopefully I can keep that going.

Q. You didn't get broken today. You were hitting way more winners than unforced errors. You haven't dropped a set through qualifying and now. Are you in the zone right now or is this a comfortable level of Coco Gauff tennis that we're seeing? Are you redlining? Is this comfortable?
CORI GAUFF: I think it's comfortable. I think it wasn't so much that my tennis improved, it was more my mindset. Because my mindset improved, my tennis definitely changed. I don't think it was so much how many balls I hit in practice. It was more off court thinking how can I improve myself and improve the way I act on the court.

It's definitely been a challenge. I think I've kind of reached basically almost the best mentality I can get to. You always can improve. But right now I feel like the way I'm acting and the way I kind of feel inside... You can kind of fake it till you make it. But I'm not faking it, at least right now.

Q. You mentioned you've been watching YouTube. What kind of programs does a 15-year-old in the third round of Wimbledon watch?
CORI GAUFF: I watch makeup tutorials, I watch blogging, those kind of social experiments. Right now, I don't know how you pronounce it, Udy, U-D-Y. They just do a bunch of pranks. It kind of keeps me laughing.

Whatever YouTube recommends me, I kind of watch.

Q. You've obviously played two really experienced players. You are inexperienced at this level. Can you explain how you seemingly made that irrelevant? Why do you think that experience gap hasn't played a part in your matches?
CORI GAUFF: Honestly, I don't know. I don't know. I think just me staying calm. A lot of players aren't so calm on the court, even though they've been playing for a long time. I think that definitely sped up the process.

I think the more experience I get, obviously the better I will -- I will make better choices on the court. To be honest, I haven't played that many matches at the top pro level. But definitely the little that I've learned from juniors, that definitely helped a lot.

I think everyone should play -- at least try to play juniors. Just kind of being familiar with the grounds, even though it's not considered experience. But last year playing Wimbledon here, definitely it really helped a lot because I was able to play on the match courts. I kind of know how they feel.

Not so much experience on court, but the experience of being on the grounds I think definitely helped a lot because I'm not so shocked when I get to a Grand Slam or another tournament.

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