ROLAND GARROS

June 4, 2024

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/O. Jabeur

4-6, 6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Coco, congratulations. Into your third consecutive Grand Slam semifinal. What does that mean to you, and what does this victory mean to you?

COCO GAUFF: It means a lot to me. I've been trying to do better at being consistent in the big tournaments, and I'm reaching that level of consistency. Obviously, very happy to reach the semifinal. Sure, everybody knows I want to go all the way.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I realize this is sort of routine for you, but it's kind of a long day looking at it from the outside. Can you sort of take us through what this day looks like for you? What time do you wake up? When do you eat? When did you get here? Into your singles match and then the time between, do you eat lunch before then? Just sort of how you survive for eight hours or whatever it is, ten hours at this level.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah. It goes by really fast, I will say. When you're playing the match, it just goes by really fast.

I think I got here 8:15 probably this morning, and I warmed up at 9:15. Then hit -- played at 11:00 and finished around 1:15, and then played doubles at 3:15. A lot of 15s. But that's what happened today (laughing). Yeah, I have physio.

It's pretty normal. Honestly, I prefer to double-up sometimes than go, like, once every day, but I know they're backed up because of the rain. I knew that going into the tournament.

But, honestly, doubles, it doesn't take for me that much energy, especially playing with Katerina. She's obviously a very accomplished doubles player. I let her do her thing, and I just kind of try to do my best to hold up my end of the court.

Q. (Question off microphone.)

COCO GAUFF: I ate before my singles and I ate before my doubles. I don't know what time I woke up. I think I went to bed at 10:30 last night and woke up at, like, 7:00 probably. So, yeah, that's like eight and a half hours of sleep, which is pretty good. I usually try to get between eight or nine. It's not as complicated as people -- as it may seem (laughing).

Q. When you are down a set in a big match like this, I'm curious how your management of these moments has changed over your career. Like how stressed or not stressed you are and how that has evolved.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, she played really well, honestly, the whole match, but especially the first set. I think the first three games I don't even think I saw a second serve. Maybe. I don't recall.

I think she was serving, like, 80-something, 84% and serving really well. When you lose a set like that, it's kind of just you just try to brush it off.

I know that I should have held serve, especially the game I got broken. I think I had a couple of game points. It's just one of those things.

I played one bad -- maybe not even game, but a couple of points, and she played a great set. It's kind of just like if she can sustain this level the whole match, she deserves it. If my level doesn't rise, then I deserve to lose. I knew I had to raise my level, and I think because I raised my level, I think she kind of -- you know, I just started to play more aggressive and not letting her dictate me off the court.

I know she's going to hit some great shots. Like a couple of forehand winners she hit, and I'm just, like, there's nothing I can do. Same with the drop shots. When you play her, you know you're going to get a couple drop shot winners, yeah.

Q. Iga said earlier that she thinks your mental game has improved over the course of the 11 times you guys have met. Is that something which you can see as well?

COCO GAUFF: I don't know if it's something I actively worked on or if it's just maturity over the years. I think you just get older and learn how to handle the pressures a little bit more.

I wouldn't say it's something that I -- I don't have a mental coach or anything like that sports-related, but it is something that I knew I had to improve and just be more positive, but I think it just also came with maturity and realizing that I can't beat myself and also my opponent beating me.

Q. Just thinking ahead to your matches against Iga, the feature here last year was you were really looping a lot of balls. In Rome recently you kind of came out crushing the ball. I'm not expecting you to reveal your tactic, but I'm wondering whether you have a clear idea in your mind of now how to approach facing Swiatek on clay.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I definitely think I have to find a better way to play her than the last times I played on clay because I've obviously been unsuccessful the last couple of times we've played, regardless of the surface and anything.

She's definitely a tough opponent for me and for anybody. Yeah, I think for me I just have to go back and watch and try to find what I have to do. I think she's playing great tennis here, so it's going to be a challenge, but I'm going to go into the match with a lot of belief that I can. I'm going to try to get, you know, a plan from my team and then also my own plan and see where we can find a blend.

Q. I wanted to ask you something else, but let me start by following up on that and asking you, when will you or have you started thinking about that plan or talking to your coaches about it?

COCO GAUFF: Just now when you asked me the question (laughing). I just finished doubles an hour ago, and I don't really think about the next match until maybe the night before because I think it's just part of my process of enjoying every match with every win and trying not to think too far ahead.

Q. Unrelated to your progress here, I wanted to ask if you had heard about Novak Djokovic withdrawing from the tournament and get your reaction to that news.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I saw -- actually, no, Brad was actually the first person to tell me. He's always on top of everything that's going on on site.

I was very surprised, and I watched his match against -- the last, like, two sets or three sets against Cerundolo. Yeah, I saw that he was obviously physically struggling, and I honestly thought -- I think everybody thought he was probably on the -- well, not everybody, but I thought he was on the verge of losing.

I don't know. Something about him, and I thought when you get through a match like that that he would win the title. But obviously, I feel like I don't want to put any words in his mouth, but I think it probably came just from the late start and it was unfortunate that the matches went five sets back-to-back. I think it was just a combination of those two things.

Hopefully the injury is not too serious and he can be ready for Wimbledon.

Q. I have a question about Mirra Andreeva. She became yesterday the third player in the last 18 years to make quarterfinals at Roland Garros before turning 18. You are one of these three players. My question is: Do you remember or did you manage with the pressure around these games at a tournament like Roland Garros, and what do you think about the evolution of Mirra, if you could see these games?

COCO GAUFF: I remember when I had made my first quarterfinal, I felt like the title was so close, and it was so far. So the only advice would be to just stay in the moment and believe that you make it, but don't think about the end. Because sometimes you hear the word "final," and you just think you're so close. You are, but in hindsight, it's a long journey from that point.

I played her here last year, and we had a tough three-set match. I think she's a great player, and I played her in US Open, and that one was a little bit more straightforward.

It's nice to see how she's constantly improving with each week. I hope that she can sustain it because sometimes I know from being there the pressures and everything can be a lot.

So I think just if I was on her team, I would just take care of the mental first and the emotional first before tennis and all of that. Because it's a long sport -- a long career that she will have. I think she's going to have a successful one, and she's obviously a great player, doing so many good things young. So hopefully she can continue here.

Q. There were some questions about Iga, but I will do one more. What do you think about her playing this Roland Garros? She was on the verge with Naomi Osaka, and then she beat Potapova 40 minutes. Today with the Wimbledon champion, 6-0, 6-2. Does it impress you? Does it make it a little bit more stressful? How do you deal with that that you know that you're going to play the player that you lost ten times?

COCO GAUFF: (Laughing.) Nice way to word it.

Look, she's obviously No. 1 in the world, and she won this tournament, like, what, three times already. I think for me I'm just going in with confidence.

I mean, when I played her in Cincinnati, I didn't go into the match thinking, Oh, I've never beaten her before, never taken a set off of her. So I can't think of past players. Potapova isn't me. I'm not Vondrousova. It doesn't mean anything. Maybe I could lose with the same score, maybe not, but I'm just going to go in and just try to win.

I have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on her, so yeah.

Q. Did you enjoy the atmosphere today? How is it like to play against Ons in front of a lot of Tunisian fans? The second question is about the NBA Finals. Who are you rooting for, Mavs or Celtics?

COCO GAUFF: First, playing in front of the Tunisian fans were great, and I know Ons has -- Tunisia is a very patriotic country, and she's kind of the icon there, so I knew going in it was going to be a lot of people cheering for her.

It was very fun to play in front of a crowd like that. They were very passionate about her, but not disrespectful towards me or anything. So I think that's what makes matches super fun to play in when it's such a fun environment and everybody -- I think in my post-match interview I said that they were against me, but I didn't mean to word it like that. It was more that they were for Ons, so I think that was really cool.

And for the NBA Finals, oh, there's Mavericks and Celtics. I think I'm going to go for the Mavericks just because I like Kyrie Irving a lot, and I met him a couple of years ago.

So, yeah, I'm not 100% for one team. I'm a Heat fan, and we lost first round, but maybe next season (laughing).

Q. Just curious about your conversations with your brothers the last few days, and if you talked to them today yet. What's the nature of those chats back and forth?

COCO GAUFF: Well, Codey, who is 16 years old -- or no -- yeah, he's 16 years old. He doesn't answer the phone ever. I haven't spoken to him on the phone probably in, like, two or three weeks. He's doing his thing.

He'll text me after a match, and he'll literally say, "Good win, Jit," and "Jit" is like a slang in Florida. I don't even know what it means, how to explain it. That's literally the last four or five texts from him.

Then, Cameron, he's the youngest, and he'll call. I think I tried to call him yesterday, but he was playing Fortnite. So we talked, and then he kind of just wasn't talking for, like, five or ten minutes. He was like, I think I'll call you tomorrow, because he was busy playing Fortnite with his friend, and he has not called me today yet.

Tomorrow is his birthday. So I'm going to wish him happy birthday, and I have some gifts coming for him tomorrow. Yeah, that's kind of our dynamic. Codey, typical teenager, and Cameron just being a kid that loves Fortnite.