Why US Open champion Coco Gauff is so proud of her Beijing run
Coco Gauff has admitted that she wasn’t sure what her motivation levels would be like in her first tournament after her Grand Slam breakthrough.
Gauff returned to WTA Tour action with a hard-fought victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Round of 64 at the China Open and while Petra Martic took her to three sets she won her last 16 and quarter-final matches in straight sets.
She needed a tiebreaker to take the first set in her last 16 clash with Tokyo champion Veronika Kudermetova but Gauff found her top level when she blew past Maria Sakkari in the quarter-finals.
Gauff goes on to face Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals in Beijing and admitted after seeing off Sakkari that she really didn’t know what it would feel like to hit the court again after a career-altering win.
She has been delighted with her game and especially the way she has kept fighting for points and working hard to improve.
“When you arrive with a little less expectations – and I had no expectations in terms of results either – you do better than you expected. I wasn’t sure what my mindset was going to be after the US Open. I knew I’d be motivated, but I hoped I wouldn’t try to watch the WTA Finals instead,” Gauff said.
“I feel like I’ve done a good job playing every game no matter what and without throwing in the towel; that’s why I’m proud,” she added.
Gauff has checked off the goals she set herself for the season but that doesn’t mean she is resting on her laurels.
Instead the US Open champion says that she has set herself a new set of goals for the Asian Swing.
“Although I achieved my goal for this season, I feel like I might have lost some motivation,” the teenaged Grand Slam champion added.
“When you achieve your goals, you simply set new ones. I think that’s what I did right, setting new goals and finding something else to motivate me to achieve them.”
Gauff expects that her clash with Swiatek will be tougher than anything she has had thrown at her this week.
“I haven’t seen her [Gauff] much, but I’m aware of what she’s doing,” Gauff added.
“I also know how she plays, what has improved and what has changed. I’ll use that information and not overanalyze it too much because I think we’re both good players. Now we just have to fight and it probably won’t be an easy game, it will be tight.”
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