AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2022

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

Q. WANG/C. Gauff

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Talk us through the match a little bit.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, today obviously didn't go my way. She played really well. I didn't play my best tennis.

I'm gonna learn from it and try to bounce back.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Bad luck about today. I know you were in Adelaide for two weeks before you came here. I just wondered how much of an adjustment you had to make coming into Melbourne. Were the conditions really different and it was a struggle to adapt?

COCO GAUFF: Honestly, I don't really know the answer to that. I mean, I don't know if it was just an off day or just getting used to it. I will say that Adelaide is more thinner air, if that makes sense. So the ball, I feel like, flies a little bit more.

I feel like today I was missing -- I think I had a lot of unforced errors, I don't know the amount, but I know it was a lot just by playing with it. So maybe that had something to do with it, but to be honest I think it was just more so me.

Q. You have had such an incredible record at the slams. I think you have already made the second week four times. I'm not sure what your goal was coming in here, but what do you think was different about today? We know that you can kind of manage the Grand Slam stage. You have done it lots of times. What was different about today?

COCO GAUFF: I don't really know. I think today I came into the match and the first couple of games, even though they were close, I was making more errors than I was used to, and I think for me it was also I feel like this is the first Grand Slam that I kind of played a tournament before like really close. So I don't know, like, if I'll do it again or not (smiling).

I think it's just learning when do I play my best tennis, and today wasn't the best tennis.

Q. She's currently ranked outside the top 100, but Qiang is better than that. She beat Serena here. What did she show you with her level today? Were you surprised with what she brought?

COCO GAUFF: No, I wasn't surprised. I played her twice before, so I knew that she's capable of playing great tennis.

For me, ranking is just a number. Obviously paper-wise I'm supposed to win the match, but I think that even when I was ranked lower before I always think ranking is just a number. Anybody is capable of winning anything, and especially in the US Open we saw that. So I think for me, yeah, ranking-wise I wasn't really thinking about me being ranked higher or anything like that. I was just trying to win the match.

But today she played well. I think she did a good job of keeping the ball deep in the court. I wasn't able to really be comfortable today.

Q. What do you think disappoints you most about the match today? What, when you focus on trying to learn, do you hope to learn from what happened?

COCO GAUFF: I think just everything disappointed me about today. I feel like in the preseason, like I worked really hard, and I felt like I was ready to have a good run here. Today I just didn't perform well.

And I think learning-wise, I think there's a lot to learn from. I think I didn't play as free as I normally do today. I think I was playing a little bit tighter than normal.

So I think next time coming into the first round of a slam, especially after a tough week before, I think I need to just play more free and focus on the moment.