Coco Gauff admits that being described as the future of women’s tennis places extra pressure on her shoulders but she is taking it all in her stride.
Gauff, who will turn 19 in March, has already achieved a series of impressive milestones in her career despite her young age. She reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open last year and has won three WTA titles, including this year’s ASB Classic. Against top 10 opposition she has recorded seven victories. Guaff has also established herself as an accomplished doubles player with seven Tour trophies to her name and is a former world No.1 in the discipline.
Given her rapid rise, expectations are high for the American to become a formidable force in the sport which isn’t necessarily a positive for her. Gauff has to contend with criticism when she didn’t perform as well as she hoped at some events such as the WTA Finals where she didn’t win a match.
“It puts pressure on you. I never label myself that (being the future of women’s tennis). I always said I just want to be the best that I can be,” Gauff told reporters in Dubai on Thursday.
‘It definitely adds pressure to it, especially when you have these losses, people say things about you, the rest of your life.’
“I have to remind myself I think I have a long career ahead of me, so I can’t really dwell on the outside comments.”
Gauff says she also takes inspiration from the journeys other players on the Tour have experienced such as Grand Slam champions Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. Sabaklenka won the Australian Open in January after a roller-coaster 2022 season where she produced a tour-leading 428 double faults.
“Looking at other players, their experience, how they’ve kind of had a bad year one year, then had a great year the next year. I remember before Iga won Roland Garros, she had lost like a bunch of matches before,” Gauff commented.
“Same with Sabalenka. That swing in January last year, she wasn’t playing her best. She still had a good year last year, even though she says she didn’t feel like it. She still made the top eight.’
“I have to just remind myself that’s life. There are ups and downs and you have to just wait for your moment and keep working hard for that moment.”
Looking more broadly at the current state of the WTA Tour, Gauff believes more consistency is forming compared to recent years. Something which she believes is partly linked to a gap between Serena Williams’ generation and the one that is above her.
“I think it’s fun. It makes it interesting when there’s consistency. That’s kind of how other sports are structured,” she said.
“You kind of know which teams are going to win – maybe. It also puts pressure on the people at the top and makes it more ambitious for people going into it because you want to beat this person because they’re so consistent, at the top. I think that makes the game exciting.”
“I’m glad to be part of it. I hope I can stay consistent. I hope there’s some other dogs that come and take some people out, too. I think it makes tennis fun.”
Gauff is through to the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships after defeating Madison Keys 6-2, 7-5. On Friday she will play top seed Swiatek who she has lost to in all five of their previous meetings on the Tour.
