Coco Gauff has insisted that she will be ‘just as sharp’ playing longer matches at the Australian Open after sealing her place in the last eight on Sunday.
The fourth seed breezed past Magdalena Frech 6-1, 6-2, in just over an hour at Melbourne Park. Gauff is currently on an 11-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments and has become the youngest Australian Open quarter-finalist since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2008. Overall, she has dropped just 16 games played in her first four matches at this year’s tournament.
“I’m super happy to be in this position and be here. I think I had three fourth round (appearances). It’s cool to get over that hump and hopefully, I can keep going for more,” said Gauff.
Gauff’s run so far has been relatively easy compared to the US Open last year where she won the biggest title of her career to date. In New York, she dropped sets against Laura Siegemund, Elise Mertens and Caroline Wozniacki. The only player she didn’t drop a set against in her first four matches was Russian rising star Mirra Andreeva.
Sometimes being challenged early in a tournament is an advantage for players as it helps tune up their game. However, Gauff has insisted that she is not feeling ‘uncooked’ heading into her next match.
“I don’t feel uncooked at all. I would love for every match to go pretty easy. I know that’s not the case.” She said.
“At the US Open, every match I won was like pretty much a dogfight, it felt like. I don’t know if that’s the ideal way to win a slam because you have to last, seven matches. I just think I had the physical ability and mental ability to do that.
“I’ve always had the goal of trying to do better at making the first couple rounds. Not easier, but closing them in straight sets, and not putting too much stress on the mind and the body.
“I know when it comes to crunch time, if I have a long match the round before or not, I’ll still compete for the same and still feel just as sharp.”
Despite being only 19, Melbourne is Gauff’s 18th appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. So far in her career she has won seven WTA titles and earned more than $12M in prize money.
As for the future, the American is starting to take full control of her own destiny.
“As each season goes, I’ve been more vocal about what I want on and off the court,” she said.
“At first, like 15, 16, my parents were doing a lot of it for me just so I could focus on tennis. Now I’m moving into more of the role. I’m getting older, having to make more decisions, all of that, on and off court.
“I think for me, I know myself pretty well. I know what I need to do to succeed, not every single thing. That’s why we have coaches and people that advise me.
“It’s definitely been a process with each year. Adulthood is something I’m really enjoying learning. I’m not completely there, but every year I think I’m getting better and better at it.”
Gauiff is one of three top 10 seeds left in the women’s draw at this year’s Australian Open. The other two are Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova who will play each other next.
