MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 22, 2025

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/M. Sakkari

6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You seemed really relaxed and having fun. What we were seeing is what you were feeling?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, 100%. That was the goal today, was to go out there and have fun on the court. That's what I feel like, that's how I'm playing.

Q. Your shots seemed free, like you're just trying different shots, not tight at all.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah (smiling). I was just trying to be loose out there. I think in the past, there's a little bit of pressure playing home. But I feel like because, I don't know, I feel like I play my best tennis when I'm playing relaxed and playing loose. I think that's what I was trying to emulate today.

Q. You came into this match coming off a 6-0, 6-0 win. How do you reset after a match like that knowing it might not go quite as smoothly?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I knew it wasn't going to go as smoothly. It's very rare to get 0-0 back to back. Very rare for it to happen in general. So I was just honestly trying to forget it. I didn't want to, like, think about it because I'm like this is a one-every-couple-years type occurrence.

I was just trying to put that match in the past and focus on today. I knew it would be more challenging today just because of the fact you can't get any better than 0-0.

Q. You also played Sakkari a week or two ago in Indian Wells and beat her.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah.

Q. When you play someone like that consecutive events so close to each other, how do you reset tactically and mentally?

COCO GAUFF: Honestly, I was focused on what I did well there. But I also had in the back of my mind knowing that it wouldn't work. Honestly, I think today at some moments my game plan worked and others it didn't.

Yeah, I think it was just one of those things that you would like to play the exact same way so you can replicate the same result. But you know any smart person isn't going to play you the exact same way as they did two weeks ago after a loss. And she didn't. She played different.

Even though the scoreline on paper looked a little bit better, I do think she played better today. I also think I played better than Indian Wells, so I think that was the difference.

Q. A non-match question. What would you rather have, another major or No. 1?

COCO GAUFF: Another major. I've always said... I don't know, I feel like people remember you more off majors than world No. 1 ranking. Obviously if you could have both, that's great.

I think for me in my personal, especially with only having one, I would like to have another. Now, if I had like four and I hadn't reached No. 1, then that maybe would be a different story. But only having one, I would like to have another one just to cement myself even more.