By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 5 hours ago, Updated 2 hours ago
Coco Gauff, crowned at the US Open in 2023. Rob Prange / Zuma / Panoramic
The American player looked back on her coronation at the US Open last September and the relief that followed.
The American Coco Gauff, third player in the world, said she was more relaxed than usual on Sunday, two weeks before the start of the Australian Open, more than three months after having reached her goal of win a Grand Slam title at the US Open.
The 19-year-old, crowned at Flushing Meadows last September, said this performance allowed her to feel a weight less on her shoulders, as she begins her 2024 season at the Auckland tournament where she is the title holder. title from Monday.
«I felt like I had a clock on my back and had to win as a teenager“, said Gauff, who will celebrate his 20th birthday in March.
She burst onto the world tennis scene at age 15, reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2019, and has since been considered a future great player. “After these debuts, I felt obliged to win“, she added.
Four years later, in New York, she finally met expectations by becoming the first American winner of this Major since Serena Williams in 1999, beating Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the final 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. “That feeling I felt on match point was a great moment and I want to keep reliving it“, Gauff said.
With a first Grand Slam in her pocket, the Atlanta native sees herself different at the Australian Open which will begin on January 14. But “I will always put pressure on myself“, she admitted. “I want to do more and I don’t want to settle for just one victory.»
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