WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 22, 2020

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

M. SAKKARI/C. Gauff

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How difficult was it for you to come out today and play Maria? You had a good run last week in Lexington and obviously it didn't quite carry over with you today. Was it obviously a disappointment that you didn't play better than you did today?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, definitely. Definitely today was not my best match. I could have played better.

She came out strong, hitting her shots. I didn't really have good responses to those.

I'm just going to use this match to kind of prepare for the US Open. I have a whole week before that, and I'm going to take what I did today and learn from it.

Q. How were the conditions? Was the weather a factor at all? I know it was pushing nearly 90 degrees out there.

COCO GAUFF: No, it was normal conditions, at least for me. I live in Florida, so I'm used to practicing and playing in hot weather.

Q. And then finally, are you getting used to playing with very few spectators surrounding the match that you can feed off of?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah.

Q. Now that you have had a few matches under your belt, both in Lexington and here in "Cincy," can you just give us a sense of how you gauge your game at the moment? Some of the things you want to shore up before the Open starts in a week? What do you think you will be doing to finish up your preparation for that slam?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, definitely doing a lot of second serves and second-serve returns, continuing to practice moving forward and stepping in, being aggressive.

Q. Do you feel like with your second serve, are there adjustments being made to the shot or the way that you want to serve that, yeah, right now, you know, might yield a few errors here and there, but it's more kind of how you want to serve, or is there something that you're kind of trying to fix in it in terms of why it's yielding a few more double faults than you want?

COCO GAUFF: It's not so much the technical thing. I think it's just more in the head. I feel like I always had a past of double faulting a lot. I think I need to get over that mental hump.

Q. Wondering, when did you get to New York? What has it been like being in the bubble so far?

COCO GAUFF: We got here Tuesday night. It's been fine in the bubble. I mean, they have a lot of things for us to do here.

I think the tournament has done a great job of making everyone feel comfortable and safe.

Q. Can you give a few examples of the kinds of things you have done when you say they have things for you to do?

COCO GAUFF: They have an arcade at the hotel, game rooms, and they have a lot of stuff on-site, like basketball and different little outdoor games and stuff that we can use and play.

Q. How different does it feel being there on those grounds from when you were there a year ago?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, it's definitely more relaxed considering there is no people, and they have, like, lounges kind of outside, so it's definitely more relaxed.

Yeah, I think everyone is just trying to get used to the more relaxed vibe, but it's not a bad thing.