Tennis players spend thousands on hiring staff to help them reach their best level but sometimes speaking to family members can be just as important.
This is the case for Coco Gauff who says her perspective of playing Grand Slam tournaments changed last year after being told something by her younger brother Codey. At the US Open last autumn, the 19-year-old won her first major title after beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final. In doing so she became the first American teenager to win the title since Serena Williams in 1999.
Gauff is hoping to replicate her success at the Australian Open where she is the fourth seed. On Friday she stormed to a 6-2, 6-0, win over an erratic Alycia Parks who hit 34 unforced errors. It is the third time in five appearances that she has reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
“I think as you get later (into a tournament), the trophy gets closer and closer. You have to treat it that it’s as far away as it is if you’re in the first round.” Gauff said during her press conference.
“That’s how I approached that (the 2023 US Open) final. I didn’t approach it as I just need to win two sets and I have it. I approached it as I need to win seven matches again and then I’ll get it.”
It is an interesting mindset to have but who was the person that told her to view major events in this way? She is mentored by Brad Gilbert and spent time working on her serve with Andy Roddick during the off-season. Although, neither of these provided her with these words of wisdom.
“It was actually something my brother (Codey) told me, which is crazy.” She revealed.
“He told me, Pretend that you have to win three sets instead of two. If you put your mindset into the extra mile, then it seems easier I guess in a way.
“He would say, Okay, if you want to win the Grand Slam, say you have to win eight matches instead of seven. It’s like changing your mindset so it feels further.
“It always stuck with me because I think at the French Open I felt like it was so close, and I just got so tight. At the US Open, it just felt so far away from the very first point of the match literally until match point was over.’
“I think tricking your mind kind of relaxes the body because your mind controls your body.”
Codey is also a promising athlete but in baseball where the teenager has impressed many. Sporting genes runs in Gauff’s family with her father previously playing college basketball at Georgia State University and her mother was a track and field athlete at Florida State University.
“I think the biggest thing I talk about with Codey, not necessarily the aspects of the sport, but more so the mentality of the sport,” Gauff commented.
Gauff will play Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the fourth round.
