“That feeling was a drug” – Coco Gauff on winning her first Grand Slam title
The American opens up on her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open, and why being a perfectionist is both a gift and a curse
Coco Gauff, US Open 2023 | © Chryslène Caillaud / Panoramic
Having had her first taste of winning a Grand Slam title, Coco Gauff wants more.
It’s been a little under six months since the Atlantan native sensationally won her first major title on the home soil of New York’s Flushing Meadows, and her appetite for further Grand Slam success remains undiminished.
While some players discover that achieving a life-time goal is indeed the crest of the wave – Ash Barty and Dominic Thiem both come to mind here – Gauff is in that unique group who find success only fuels the desire for more success.
“That was a feeling I’ll never be able to replicate no matter how many more matches I win,” the American told Vogue magazine in an interview that took place during the off-season.
“I want to win more so I can get as close to the feeling [as I can],” Gauff continued.
“I told my mom—I literally said, ‘It was an addictive feeling.’ As soon as I felt that, I wanted to re-feel it again.
“I said, ‘Now I see how people get addicted to drugs.’ That feeling was a drug. For the rest of my life, the rest of my career, I’m going to be chasing that high.”
Just over two months before winning the US Open title, Gauff had exited Wimbledon in the first round – a result that could easily have derailed the confidence of a teenage player yet to have the big breakthrough many predicted of her since the tender age of 15.
peefectionism helps gauff turns bitter defeat into career-best run of success
What followed was quite an extraordinary display of turning adversity into resilience, as Gauff bounced back across the US hard-court swing to put together the most successful stretch of her career to date.
This culminated in a place in the biggest final Gauff had ever reached, as she stepped out onto Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of nearly 24000 home fans all desperate to see the young Atlantan’s dreams and potential realised.
Many could and would have buckled under such extreme pressure. Instead, Gauff rose to meet the size of the occasion and seized it with both hands.
Not that she wasn’t feeling the nerves beforehand, though.
“When I walked on the court, I put the music really loud in my ears because I didn’t want to look at, or hear, the crowd,” Gauff recalls.
Taking the pain of that first-round defeat at SW19 and turning it into success required Gauff to be tough on herself, channelling the disappointment into hard work. This mindset is rooted in a perfectionism that the young American revealed is as much a gift as it is sometimes a curse.
“It’s a great thing and also a bad thing,” she explains.
“It’s not like I’m saying, ‘Good job, Coco.’ It’s like, ‘Okay, why didn’t you do that sooner?’
“I’m trying to do more of, you know, accepting the good shots,” Gauff continued, “and giving myself as much of a compliment as I do a critique.”
In the months since her ground-breaking victory in New York, Gauff has backed up her Grand Slam credentials with a career-best run to the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January.
Now also sitting a career-high of No 3 in the world, Gauff feels ready to take the next big step in her Grand Slam story.
“I really want to do well or win Roland Garros because I just felt like I was so close last time,” Gauff said, who fell to the irrepressible Iga Swiatek in the 2022 final.
“Paris is my favourite city, so I do want to try to win there. That would be special. But obviously if it’s not Roland Garros, I’d be very happy to win Wimbledon or the US Open.”
Still only 19 years old – albeit a week away from leaving her teenage years behind her – it is telling that Gauff has her sights set on every Grand Slam title.
With her breakthrough run as a 15-year-old coming on the grass of Wimbledon, her maiden major final reached on the red clay of Paris and her superb first Grand Slam title coming on the hard courts on New York, the reigning US Open champion has pedigree across all surfaces.
On the brink of 20 years old and possessing a hunger to win that only grows with each success she tastes, Gauff’s appearance on the front cover of Vogue may prove as timely as it does prescient.
