What did Coco Gauff tell herself as she struggled to close out a tension-laden final game of her 2023 US Open semifinal with Karolina Muchova in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night?
“I told myself just trust yourself in the moment,” the 19-year-old said, recalling a momentous struggle that featured the longest rally of the tournament (40 strokes) and five match point saves from a determined Muchova.
Eyes glowing with excitement, words rolling rapidly off her tongue as she sat at the ESPN interview desk and fielded questions from American legend Chris Evert and other pundits, Gauff was clearly elated, even giddy, after becoming the youngest American to reach a US Open final since Serena Williams in 1999.
But don’t be fooled by the 19-year-old’s demeanor during TV hits, or the anime references she casually dropped in her on-court interview after the biggest win of her career.
Peel back the layers of the onion and find a serious—and seriously poised—champion in the making, one that has been diligently applying her mind and body to the evolution of her tennis ever since she was able to cradle a tennis racquet in her hands.
At 14, Gauff was blasting serves in the high 110s at junior events and setting her sights on becoming a future star. No one that watched her would disagree that it was just a matter of time. The athleticism, the intellect, the passion—nothing was missing from the can’t-miss kid’s game.
This week in Flushing Meadows, the wave is close to cresting, and Gauff is comfortable enough in her own skin to recognize that even if it doesn’t happen in Saturday’s US Open women’s singles final, it will happen soon enough.
“I learned a lot from the past,” Gauff told Evert, who then posed the perfect question: “Why are you ready to win a Grand Slam now?”
The sixth-seeded American, clicking through the gears in her mind as if she was taking an oral exam from the six-time US Open champion, replied: “In my final at the French Open, I think I put too much on the moment and on Saturday I'm gonna go out there and just play like it’s another tennis match. I approached the match today like that. I told myself I'm just gonna go out there, have fun and play the tennis I know how to play.”
Gauff racked up titles in Washington, D.C. and Cincinnati earlier this summer and has now won 16 of her last 17 matches. There isn’t a hotter tennis player on the planet, but the teen isn’t getting ahead of herself—she believes she’s just touching the tip of her vast potential.
After a low point at Wimbledon in early July, where she lost in the first round, Gauff didn’t have high hopes for the summer on the American hard courts.
“One hundred percent, I wasn't thinking those results would happen,” Gauff said. “Even after D.C., I didn't think this would happen. Even after Cincy, I didn't think this would happen. I'm really proud of myself, and like I said, there is still a long way to go.
“I think I can improve a lot, but how I have been able to manage with the game I have now is something that I'm happy with.”
It was clear in Thursday night’s pressure cooker in Muchova that Gauff was not bogged down by the moment, or expectations.
She looked unbothered, played within herself and took the opportunities that were given to her. It was a remarkably poised performance and clear proof that Gauff’s is maturing mentally as well as physically.
Fifteen months ago, when she lost to Iga Swiatek in a lopsided Roland-Garros final, it was exactly the opposite.
“I think I play good tennis when I'm the most relaxed, and when I played the French Open final, I think I was focused too much on the expectations,” she added, after stretching her winning streak to a career-best 11. “That I had to win, that I need to do this, and now it’s more that I'm here because I want to and I believe in myself—I don't think I believed in myself then.”
Less than an hour later after leaving the ESPN set, Gauff made her way to a crowded interview room, and elaborated.
“I think I just didn't really believe that I had it in me,” she confessed. “But this time around, I have been focusing more on myself and my expectations of myself. Not going on social media or listening to people who believe that I can or believe that I can't. So I have just been really focusing on myself.
“I really believe that now I have the maturity and ability to do it. Regardless of what happens on Saturday, I'm really proud of how I have been handling the last few weeks.”
