US OPEN

September 2, 2022

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/M. Keys

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Straight sets, hour and 10 minutes, 11 minutes. Your thoughts on how you played.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I was definitely impressed on how I played. Maddie is not an easy opponent. I lost to her in Adelaide. I learned a lot about that match. I was, like, If I lose, I'm not going to lose the same way.

I was really just trying to take my ground when I could. It's not easy to do that against her. But I'm pretty happy with how I played.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Three years ago, you left the court in tears. Now you have your own shoe, play with confidence. Do you ever think about your evolution over that period of time? You're still 18, but do you think of that evolution as a person and player?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I definitely learned a lot from that experience. I think I was putting so much pressure on myself. I was really just new to the scene.

Yeah, I always say, I said this before, I was really delusional then. It was my first US Open and I thought I was going to go out in flying colors.

Yeah, and I didn't, so I learned that everybody's journey and path is different. I'm definitely happy that people expect big things of me, but I think it's more I focus on my expectations on myself than other people's.

Q. You mentioned earlier this week that your mentality, referring to your tennis, wasn't in the best place at the beginning of the year. How did you flip that?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, it was both tennis and life (smiling). I think I flipped it. Well, just really about the people I think around me helped. I mean, I feel like in my tennis, I was losing my identity on the court. I was very confused about how I wanted to play.

I got a new coach. He helped me a lot find my identity and how I want to play. So credit to him for that.

Q. I've seen you out on the practice court straight after matches. What's the idea behind that?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, well, I'm still learning. Sometimes I just want to go to the locker room and sit. But, no, my coach, he tells me, like, You have the feeling of the match, it's probably the closest you can get to the match feeling right after you walk off the court.

Usually, win or lose, most of the time we go on the court. Unless I lose in a slam, I'm, Okay, there's no point. I'm ready to go.

It's really to recreate the feeling. It's been helping. You can practice for hours on the court, but that's probably the closest you can get to match, feeling of the match is right after, and I think in the long run it's going to help me.

Q. Could you expand a little bit on how you feel maybe that identity may have changed or evolved or grown from January to now.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think in January I was relying too much on my speed. Because against lower-ranked players, I could get away with just getting the ball back. Playing higher players, power hitters, I'm like, Okay, that's not working anymore.

I think now I'm using it as a weapon, not so much as a defense mechanism, using it to aggressively get to the balls, to attack the net, instead of using it to run side to side. Yes, I still use it to do that. That's tennis. You can't help it.

I think it really changed my mentality on how I'm using my athleticism. I'm not relying on it anymore. Now I'm trying to use it as a weapon.

Q. Obviously your breakout came on the slams. That's how most people remember you, Wimbledon, US Open. What are the biggest takeaways that you took from just playing regularly at the tour level that you think is helping you at the slam level?

COCO GAUFF: I think really it's helped me because I'm playing usually tournaments in all types of situations. You're playing every week. You're playing when you're tired. You're playing when you're feeling great. You're playing when maybe mentally something happened.

I think it prepares you for every situation in a slam. I think today is one of those days that I think having that tour experience helped me. What I did on court, was not having the best day. Had a tough doubles match last night, literally was playing flashbacks last night, had a hard time going to sleep. Today I was still thinking about it.

I think that tour experience helped me because I played before matches feeling like that, not feeling your best. When I stepped on the court, it was quite a different mentality. I think it's because of having those many matches on the tour.

Q. Regarding Nick Kyrgios, overall what do you think of his game? What do you think makes him so effective? What do you think makes it so box office? He's a different player this year than he was in years past.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think he has a great serve. I mean, I don't talk about his on-court game. We all know he's great. I know there's things on the court that he does that people don't agree with. I probably don't agree with some things.

Overall I think he's a nice person. At least he's always been to me. I remember I first hit with him, he probably doesn't remember this, I was 13 years old at Miami Open. He finished his practice, hit with me for, like, 30 minutes.

It's just things like that that stands out for me. That's why I feel like I can never dislike him because constantly when I see him around, he's always saying hello.

Again, when I was 14 at Miami Open again, he finished a two-hour practice. I think with Frances Tiafoe. I remember saying, There's no way he's going to want to hit with me. Just grind it out for two hours. He actually stayed and hit with me for an hour again.

It's just moments like that that people don't really see about him. So I think people paint him as a bad guy. I feel around the grounds, at least my experience of him, he's not.

I think in the end it helped me in the long run as a player hitting with him. He told me good things about my game. At that time I'm like, Nick Kyrgios thinks I'm a good player. You start to believe that and gain confidence in that.

Yeah, if he keeps it up, I think he can go far. He can win the tournament. We all know he has the ability to. He was close at Wimbledon. I always, always root for him, no matter who he's playing, to be honest.

Q. It seemed like the serve improved over the match. Was there anything you changed? Was that something you worked on since your last meeting with Madison?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, definitely. I was trying not to be so predictable with the serve today 'cause she has a great forehand return. If she knows where it's going, she can strike it. Today I was really just trying to mix it up.

Usually I know, I feel like now I'm getting an idea of when I miss, how to coach myself through the serve. I feel like with each match I'm getting better and better. Now I'm not so much bummed about double-faults, because I know with the way I serve, it's going to happen. I think today I had only, like, four. Four or five, which is good for me.

I try not to get bummed about that, because I look at my first-serve points won and second-serve points won. It's usually pretty high. You just have to take the wins when you can.

Q. Obviously you're here with us right now, have a blockbuster match going out on Ashe.

COCO GAUFF: I hear them (smiling).

Q. Are you going out to watch?

COCO GAUFF: I don't know if I'm going to watch because it's been a long couple of days. I will be watching on TV, I don't know if live. It's loud in there. I don't think people realize how loud it is.

When I saw the first match, I went inside for a bit to get away from the noise. So I will be watching on TV. But, I mean, she's playing really well, so I don't think this will be the last time we see her on the court.

But, yeah, I mean, I'm definitely going to watch. Like I said, she's been playing well. I don't think this will be the last time we see Serena yet.

Q. Looking ahead, Zhang Shuai. She's on a good streak. Can you talk about the challenges of facing her. As a person she had lovely things to say about you. What is she like around the locker room?

COCO GAUFF: I think her and Ons are probably one of the most liked people on tour. You never really meet someone who dislikes her. I got to play doubles with her. I played her in Miami Open. That was tough. I think I won in straight sets, but it was, like, a tough match.

I'm sure the next time I play her, I don't even know what day it is today, gosh, but when I play her, it's going to be another tough match.

Like I said, as a person, always, always so nice. She congratulated me when I was No. 1, even though I took it from her (laughter). So that's what sticks out about me.

Like I said, I think she's probably one of the nicest players on tour. It's great to have people like this because she's such a tough competitor on the court. Also, as soon as it's over, she has so much respect for everyone.

I'm just happy that tennis has someone like her in the sport.