US OPEN

August 23, 2024

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Coco, welcome. US Open. Very familiar to you. Your thoughts on 2024.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, it's a new year for a new opportunity. Really excited to be back here and have a great tournament. Obviously coming in as defending champion is a little bit of pressure, but also more of a privilege, because as my new motto is: If you defend, that means you won something before. I'm excited to be back here and hopefully have a good two weeks.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. We're in the Billie Jean King Tennis Center, obviously. A couple hundred yards away is a statue of Althea, and this stadium was named after a man who acted boldly. In our country there have been a lot of developments recently, an African American has been nominated for the presidency by one of the parties.

COCO GAUFF: Yes.

Q. Could you share some of your thoughts about that, please.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think it is really incredible. You know, no matter who you're voting for, who you stand for, it is really incredible to see how far this country has come and people of color, Black people in general.

It's really inspiring to see someone on that ballot. Yeah, honestly it takes the works of many others to pave the way. Yeah, I'm excited that I'm able to see this in my lifetime, because I know many others didn't get that chance to.

Q. You mentioned while in Paris you got to spend time with Tara Davis-Woodhall and Gabby Thomas. What did you learn from other women who are the best at their fields?

COCO GAUFF: I think that what you're feeling isn't so isolated, just being around elite athletes and what they do, the nerves, you realize nerves are normal, the pressures are all normal. It doesn't make them easier but I think it helps you know you're not carrying the weight alone.

I think I just learned that, and they're incredible people. So yeah, I think I just learned the most thing, that everything I feel other athletes are feeling it in their sports, and they're obviously undisputed best at what they've done, especially this past Olympics.

Q. Cincinnati didn't go the way you wanted it to, so I'm curious what went into the reset from then and preparing for this tournament.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I mean, obviously I wanted to go into Cincinnati and win, but I had more realistic things in my head just coming from Olympics and, you know, switching surfaces so fast.

So really, the main focus was trying to be as ready as possible for here, which I feel like it was a blessing in disguise I lost so early, because I was able to actually train, which I hadn't been able to. I do my best results when I come off a training block. I was able to train for a good week and a half and obviously still have a couple more days to do that.

The last couple of practices have gone really well, which before, like, during Cincinnati wasn't having great practices, in Toronto wasn't having great practices.

Here I'm having great practices, which, you know, doesn't mean I'm going to go out on the match and play great, but it does give you more confidence when you're actually practicing great the week before a tournament, yeah.

Q. You obviously have been part of a lot of night sessions here.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah.

Q. Do you think there's an issue with matches ending at 2:00 a.m., 2:30 a.m., both here and at the other slams, and if so, what would you do to address that issue?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, so I've never actually had a super late finish just because I've just been lucky that either the match will go super fast or anything like that. But obviously I do think that finishing late can really ruin your tournament, especially, like, on the guys' side when they, you know, if they go on at, like, 11:00 or 12:00, you know, max maybe the longest a women's match will go two hours or three hours, but men's can go, like, five.

I think for me I think I heard US Open this year if you're going to start after 11:00 they're going to move your court. I think that's a good initiative to start. You may win that match that day but your sleep schedule and everything is completely messed up for the rest of the tournament. So it does put that person at a disadvantage.

So I think right now with that new policy, I think that's the best way to address it. I mean, we won't know until we test a lot of things, but I think this is a good start.

Q. This tournament has video review on about half the courts for things like not ups or other calls along those lines. You of course at the Olympics and at the French Open have called for seeing that more.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah.

Q. Do you think there's any good reason why it shouldn't be at and would you like to see it at every tournament year round? Do you think going into matches knowing that's there might help you and other players not worry about those kinds of things affecting the match?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, for sure. I think, you know, we're playing for too much on the line for that not to be a thing, especially when other sports have it where, you know, maybe they don't even have as much of the resources tennis has financially.

So I definitely think that, you know, it should be, especially at the slams, it should be here and 1000 tournaments. Obviously I would like to see it across all levels, but I definitely would love to see it at the highest of levels first.

US Open had it last year. I didn't have to use it. Hopefully I won't have to use it this year, but I think it's a great thing.

You know, the worst is when you get apologized to afterwards, and it's kind of just like, thanks, but, you know, what is that going to do for me now? I think it'll just hold everybody accountable. I think there will be a lot less player frustration and outbursts with that. I'm excited. I hope to see it continue to expand not just in this tournament but all tournaments.

I think the fans would appreciate it too, because I think there's nothing more frustrating for a fan to, like, go and see that happen to their player and you're seeing that your player is right or wrong, and the player itself doesn't know.

Yeah, hopefully, you know, that continues to grow.

Q. We know that you have met and spoken with Michelle Obama. If you had the chance to sit down with Kamala Harris, what would you want to discuss with her or ask her?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I haven't gone -- I've only briefly spoke to her when she congratulated me for US Open last year. What I would ask her is maybe just her story, personal story growing up and how she got to this point in her life.

Obviously I know just from watching, like, you know, her speeches and learning about her story, but I guess from a more personal perspective, because I know her mother was an immigrant. I think anybody, really, it's kind of crazy to see how a person can be, like, one of us and then become the president of the United States or vice president of the United States (smiling).

I think I would ask her just her story and, you know, what were the stepping stones to that point, because I think at one point almost every kid said they were going to be the next president of the United States. So it would be cool to hear her story from her perspective and I guess not on the news and stuff.

Q. Did you ever say that?

COCO GAUFF: To her?

Q. That you were going to be the next president of the United States.

COCO GAUFF: I mean, I never, like, wrote it because I knew I always wanted to be a tennis player. But I always thought, you know, I feel like as a super young kid, like four or five, you see the kid, I don't know if any of you heard of like the kid president, you're like, I want to be like him.

Yeah, I'm sure there was a thought in my head at that age that I would be the next president or the Queen of England or something crazy like that. (Laughter.)

Then you get older and you realize reality is not like that.

Q. How have things been different coming back this year as a champion and whether it's seeing your name or your picture? Are routines different at all?

COCO GAUFF: Not really, because I feel like I was in a crazy position last year where there was a lot surrounding me, like, before this, even before I was a Grand Slam champion.

So, you know, I had basically the same busy pre-week this week as I had last year pre-week of US Open.

So I think that's where it was a little bit easier coming into all of this as a Grand Slam champion because of, like, the gradual rise I've had in this sport when it came to the amount of attention I was getting.

Honestly, this week hasn't been much different, other than people saying I'm the defending champion, but other than that, I feel like it's been the same amount of attention and same amount of sponsor commitments and all that.

Q. You mentioned the mantra that you have now, if you're defending, that means you won something. How recent was it that you came up with it? Compared to last year when you talked about how your doubters motivated you, is that mantra the way you kind of motivate yourself more going into this year outside of just wanting to win?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, honestly, like, a couple days ago somebody commented on my TikTok and the comment said, why stress yourself out over -- it said, you've won literally and figuratively. Why stress yourself out over a victory lap? I was, like, that's actually a good perspective. No one can take that from me so why stress myself over something that I already have. I'm just wanting to add to that, whether it happens here in two weeks or next year here or at Australia or whatever, there's no point.

So I think I saw that comment, like, three days ago, and I was, like, okay, I'm going to stick by that and use that, because it really changed my perspective coming into this.

And, yeah, I still use the doubters as motivation. I know people have said things about me online and will continue to for the rest of my life, but I know it comes just out of a sense of, I don't know, maybe hatred or jealousy, I don't know. But for me, I never root on people's downfalls. Regardless of who you are, I'll never root on somebody's downfall. I'll always root for success.

I just wish the rest of the world or people were like that, which most of them are, but there's always like the 2% that like to have their moment every now and then.

Q. How would you describe the last year of your life since you won here?

COCO GAUFF: Honestly, I hate to say it, but it's not as different as people think it's become. Like I said before, I think I just had such a gradual rise in this sport, like, obviously it hit the stone at 15 where everything was coming at me fast, but ever since then every year has just been gradual. I think all that time prepped me to better prepare for this moment so I wasn't such a deer in headlights and everything wasn't so crazy, so I felt like I was being prepared for that.

That's why I'm grateful, I don't know, some people thought I was going to win one at 15 or 16, which was crazy, I wasn't going to do that. I think it just helped prepare me for now. So I think now coming in I'm going to enjoy it.

So yeah, I think my life hasn't been too different other than a little bit of more attention. But I feel like every year has been different because it's always been a gradual rise of attention, and I think next year, whether I win this or not, I'll still have maybe a little bit more attention just because that just seems the way my life is going, which is great, because I can continue to use that platform to spread positivity, light, and good messages into the world.

I'm grateful for that. I'll never say that I'm not grateful for it, because I know this is what I wanted to do since I was young and all of this is just a plus.