THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 1, 2023

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Coco.

How are you feeling going into the fortnight?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I feel really confident heading into Wimbledon. I had a good week last week or a couple days ago in Eastbourne. Yeah, I'm super excited to be heading into this year's Championships.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How well-prepared would you say from Eastbourne? Is it good, best tournament for you coming into Wimbledon?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, honestly it was a good tournament for me. I gained a lot of confidence there. Had a couple good wins. My first top-10 win in a while. I'm really confident going into this tournament.

Obviously the last match didn't go how I wanted it to. I really think I could have changed some things in the match, too. But I think Madison played a really good match. I'm hoping to learn from that, combat that, and bring the same momentum into these next two weeks.

Q. A couple weeks ago I listened to a podcast of Patrick McEnroe and Rick Macci. Rick said he would be in a constant exchange with your father, maybe you would come in the fall to him and work on some technique. Any truth to that?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I haven't spoken to Rick personally. But, yes, him and my dad converse a lot. Not just now but over the years.

Yeah, that was one of the options to do that after the season is over. Obviously it's far from now, so I can't really confirm. But, yeah, I believe, based off what you told me, everything is true.

Q. Your first-round opponent, Sofia Kenin. You played her twice, Australian Open 2020, and this year she's coming back. How would you compare her game styles both times?

COCO GAUFF: Honestly, the 2020 I don't remember so much from that match. I believe we split sets and I lost in the third.

Honestly, her game is pretty similar. I think I just got better. Obviously she was in a tough spot earlier this year. I think coming through qualifying, she'll have a lot more confidence, so I'm not expecting an easy match at all. It's going to be a tough match.

Her game is, I don't know, a tough game to play against. She has a couple weapons, underrated weapons, that I don't think people speak about as much. But, yeah, I think it will be a tough match.

Q. What stays with you most from when you played Venus here in your first opportunity at Wimbledon?

COCO GAUFF: I would say the match points. Walking to the net from the match points, walking to the net felt so long. In the movies they really play making those moments, quick moments, seem long. It really felt like that. I think that was the first time and probably only time in my life I've ever experience a slow-motion moment like that. Even when I made my first Grand Slam final, it didn't feel like that.

So, yeah, I don't think I'll ever have a feeling replicated like that feeling ever again. Probably, I don't think so.

Q. What does it mean to you to have had that moment and to have played Venus in that first match here?

COCO GAUFF: It means a lot. It was the start of everything for me. I think life is a domino effect. I don't know if that domino didn't happen or if that domino was pulled out where I would be now. But I think that was a pivotal moment in my life.

Q. Here and just in general, drawing a qualifier first round of a slam, particularly on grass where the season is short, grass court matches are at such a premium, does that feel like a particular challenge, facing someone who you know already has three grass court wins under their belt?

COCO GAUFF: Honestly, normal circumstances, yes. To this circumstance, no, because I played Eastbourne. Honestly, yeah, I finished my match at the same time that quallies was over. I got, yeah, four matches in, three wins. I feel like we're in the same situation.

Obviously she played here in London. Maybe the conditions I feel like from Eastbourne to London are very similar, except a little bit less wind here, the courts are a little bit nicer.

But, yeah, I don't feel like this would play a role in the match. Normally, in normal circumstances, I would say yes, playing a qualifier, it's always like worrisome. I mean, it's worrisome, too, now, but I don't feel like I'm under-prepared match-wise.

Q. Back to Venus for a moment. You've spoken a lot in the past about admiring her and her sister. Just wanted to get your thoughts on Venus still being out here. She's going to be back on Centre Court for the first time in a while here, and at her age. Maybe more importantly what she's meant to people like yourself, other players, and the game itself, what the significance is of having her still be in action.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, for me, Venus, the most inspiring thing about her is the love that she has for tennis. I don't think that love has swayed over the course of her career. I think you can see players who are older now. You can have a feeling they probably don't love it as much as they did when they started it. I don't have that feeling with Venus. I hope I'm the same way.

I don't think I'll be playing at 42, I believe (smiling). I don't think I'll be playing at that age. Maybe. I don't know. She said the same thing.

If I am, I do hope it's because I just truly love the game. So I think that's the most inspiring thing about her. Obviously just her grit for every match, every ball. I watched a couple of her matches last week. Just the will to want every point is something that's inspiring.

I feel like I have that same hunger. I tried to continue to reach that level of hunger that she has for every point, no matter what tournament it is, Grand Slam or 250. It seems like she's just fighting for every point. I think that's the most inspiring things in my eyes of Venus Williams.

Q. We used to talk about how tricky it was to go from clay to grass because it's a quick turnaround. It seems to me nowadays players are adjusting pretty quickly and easily. I want to know, from your experience, does it really feel like having to switch to a completely unknown or do you naturally find your footing rapidly?

COCO GAUFF: It's definitely a switch for me. It's not so much, like, if I feel like I'm going to fall or stuff. It's really just the footwork of it.

You have to have great footwork every surface, but I feel like grass for me is the most important surface to do really important and play attention to the feet because it can go really fast. Some courts are really slower than others.

But the transition I do think is something I'm getting better with because of the experience I had in the past, switching the clay to grass. I think if it's your first time, your first year on tour, it's kind of tough to make that transition fast. In junior tournaments and other tournaments, you really don't play on grass, let alone switching that fast.

Yeah, I think it's something that will get better over time. I feel like this year I made the adjustment really well.

Q. You're one of the few players to have won a WTA title as a lucky loser. Can you think back to that week. Did that second chance make you play more relaxed or free?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I remember that was my first title. It was actually Maria Sakkari pulled out, got the opportunity for me to play. Obviously I think she was hurt.

I remember my dad telling me - I found out 20 or 30 minutes before the match - he was like, You can't lose twice. We just laughed at it. I don't think we ever thought we would win the tournament.

But, yeah, that was a crazy moment. I didn't think in Linz, Austria, out of all the places, that would be my first title. But, yeah, it was a real cool moment.

I actually broke the trophy that same day (smiling). Yeah, I remember they were, like, taking pictures. I was trying to hide the broken piece. It's still not fixed to this day. I tried to fix it with nail glue. The tournament offered to fix it for me. I was just like, You know, it's a memory, I think I'm going to keep it like that (smiling).