Gauff feeling “emotionally fresh” following Ostapenko rout
Coco Gauff is looking to make her deepest run at the US Open, declaring herself “emotionally fresh” despite three three-set matches over the last 10 days
ZUMA / Panoramic
Coming into her match against Jelena Ostapenko, Coco Gauff had done it tough across her previous four matches, going the distance on three occasions.
Her one hour, eight-minute rout of the No 20 seed was a welcome relief, with the 6-0, 6-2 score line leaving Gauff feeling fresh, both physically and mentally ahead of her first semi-final at the US Open.
Gauff poised for deep run at US Open
At the tender age of 19 years old, Coco Gauff has already made one Grand Slam final, last year at Roland-Garros. Now, with a bit more experience under her belt, the American is in excellent shape to make another deep run at this year’s US Open.
“Right now I feel emotionally fresh,” declared Gauff in her post-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon at Flushing Meadows. “I think [that] was the problem in the past in Grand Slams, I would emotionally be drained.”
Gauff credits her greater level experience for helping her maintain such emotional freshness.
“Obviously I’m physically fresh and emotionally fresh, and I think that just came from experience.
“I think this is one of the harder runs I’ve had to the quarterfinal stage. Obviously never got to semis, but I don’t know, I just feel so fresh, to be honest,” continued Gauff.
“I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been tricking myself or maybe when this is over, I’m going to hit a wall. But I’m really proud of how I’m able to get through these matches.”
Results in Washington, Montreal and Cincinnati helped endurance
After defeating Jelena Ostapenko, Coco Gauff is now on a 10-match winning streak on the WTA Tour.
While playing so much tennis might wear other players out, let’s remember that Gauff is still a teenager, and thus the equivalent of an energiser bunny. In fact, she’s explained that her results across the Washington Open (won), Canadian Open (quarter-finals) and Western & Southern Open (won), have helped prepare her for Grand Slam tennis.
“I learned that, you know, there’s still a lot of tennis left to play, and it’s a long match and a long tournament,” explained Gauff.
“I’m still in the mindset that I’m in the beginning of the tournament. I think that’s what I have learned, you know, in the past of being in quarterfinals, before I would think, you know, close to the end, but right now I have the mentality that I told myself I still have another two weeks to play. So that’s where my mind is at.
“Then obviously when it’s over, it’s over. But right now I’m just saying another two weeks. And also, I think what’s helping is playing from D.C. to Montreal to Cincinnati, that was a long type of swing. So I think doing well in those tournaments built my mental endurance. Always had the physical endurance but it built my mental endurance.”
With Gauff becoming the youngest American women to make the US Open semi-finals since Serena Williams in 1999, the 19-year-old is beautifully poised to continue finding her name in the same sentence as Serena’s over the coming days.
