MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 25, 2022

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/Q. Wang

7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: (Off mic.)

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I just kind of approached it. I mean, obviously I was super motivated today to get the win. I just kind of approached it just playing free.

I feel like playing at a home crowd you either can get nervous playing in front of your family, friends, or embrace it, and today I think I embraced it.

Q. When you are losing in a match, what do you focus on to keep going?

COCO GAUFF: Just fighting for every point. I mean, she's a tough player. She's going to make a lot of balls back in the court. I was just focused on trying to hit the ball deep in the court and over the net.

Q. You played with a lot of confidence and composure, especially in the last game. What would you attribute that to?

COCO GAUFF: Just my training. I feel like when you practice hard, you know that you're prepared for the pressure situations, so I feel like I have been practicing really hard. I'm comfortable and confident in my game.

Q. I spoke with your dad.

COCO GAUFF: Yes.

Q. He gets pretty nervous. He told that to me, along with your mom, as well. Does that run across your mind when you're playing about having them in the stand?

COCO GAUFF: No, I mean, I don't care if they're nervous. Too bad. It's not my problem (smiling).

I mean, as many matches as they have seen, they're probably -- I don't know, my mom is always like this, she's never looking at the match.

My dad, I can't even watch matches with him. I was watching my friend play Chris, and I was like, I can't sit next to you watching matches. I mean, I don't really look at him when I'm on the court, but I would never sit next to him to watch another tennis match ever again (smiling).

Q. You have seen such an upheaval in the top of the women's game the last year. I think 8 of the top 10 aren't in it this year. Retirements, injuries, mental issues, what's that tell you about the game right now and maybe how open it is?

COCO GAUFF: I mean, I feel like everybody is dealing with something. For me, I mean, I feel like I think it's more important for whatever is going on with that player for them to take time for themselves. I feel like there is more of a, not movement, but kind of people are okay with taking time for themselves, and I think that's great.

I think that as an athlete, we shouldn't always have to be, to play, play, play, even if we don't feel 100% mentally or physically. So I think about the game I think that just tells that more athletes and more tennis players I should say are okay with maybe taking some time off for themselves and focusing on themselves. In the future, they will come back stronger.

Q. The Williamses are gone, Wozniacki retired, Barty retired, the dominant players are kind of gone right now. Does that create more of an opening for young players like you?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I would say definitely the game is going through kind of a shift right now, both sides, women and male side of young players coming up. So I would say there is definitely a generational shift happening right now. Yeah, I'm glad that I'm a part of it.

Q. Speaking of a shift, do you feel a shift personally in your game that you are ready maybe to take the next step at a Grand Slam this year? What kind of differences in that way do you feel within yourself this year as compared to last maybe?

COCO GAUFF: I feel like for me, I mean, definitely I feel like I can go far in slams. For me I think it's more of a mental thing, when am I mentally matured enough to win one.

I feel like I have all the physical attributes and the game and everything. I think that's kind of like a lot of players on the tour, we are all pretty physically fit. We all have big serves or big forehands or some type of weapon that helps us win matches.

I think what really sets the other players, Grand Slam champions apart from the rest is probably their mentality. I'm hoping and have been working on trying to be mentally mature to make it far in slams and hopefully win one.

Q. Naomi mentioned the other day that she was motivated because she heard an analyst pick against her in this tournament. Is there anything like that that motivates you, anything that you kind of teach yourself to give yourself motivations for specific tournaments?

COCO GAUFF: I mean, yeah, for me definitely. I mean, people say you can't do something, it definitely makes you more motivated, at least in my opinion.

Yeah, I don't really watch when my matches are commentated on all the time, and during tournaments I try not to like go on certain platforms that you know you're probably going to see people say you can't do this or that.

So, yeah, I kind of try to stay away from it.

Q. How do you deal with losses though? You have lost some matches. After the game, what do you do to, you know, recoup?

COCO GAUFF: I mean, with losses, each loss is different. I always say some probably hurt more than others.

After a match, I mean, I kind of just try to think about it a little bit. I'm the type I will probably think about the match maybe two or three days after the loss. I'm very emotional afterwards.

So I kind of just want to sit in my room and watch TikTok or Netflix or something to keep my mind off it. Then obviously I'll go back and watch the match and try to find out what my mistakes were a couple days later.