Coco Gauff vows to work hard in 2022, lauds Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez

Ayanda Frances Felem
January 12, 2022

World Number 19 Coco Gauff has vowed to work hard for the new season as she set herself a clear goal aimed at reaching higher standards of her career.

The 17-year-old American has a clear sense of who she is and what she wants to accomplish after she became the youngest player ranked in the top 100 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and a career-high ranking of 19th in singles achieved in September last year.

Gauff has applauded her fellow teenagers, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez, who both had a good season last year, saying it’s good to witness the healthy rivalry between the younger players especially after being together in the junior tournaments.
She said it’s a nice surprise to see the change younger players are bringing in tennis.

“I was super ecstatic for the both of them, it was kind of cool to see it happen at a tournament where I guess no one expected that to happen,” Gauff told the WTA website.

“We were all in the same tournaments as a juniors, so it’s nice to see someone around my age doing so well. Obviously, you can’t be anything but inspired for yourself to do as well, or even better than them.”

Ranked 19th in Singles and 21st in Doubles, Gauff believes she’s done growing physically and her focus is to work hard daily, something she enjoys doing.

Gauff added: “I feel like I’m done growing, I got measured two months ago and I was 5-foot-9 and a quarter. It’s been like that for the last two or three years. But every time people see me in person they always say I’m getting taller and I’m like, `The measurements don’t agree with you.

“The worst was going on the track and doing workouts. I ran 400s, 200s, 100s – you name it – a lot of times. Those were the times when I did not want to be alive. In the end, though, I was happy.”

Coco Gauff Emma Raducanu Leylah Fernandez