Gauff calm amid Cocomania storm
WIMBLEDON, England — Mom and racket-holding Dad joined two coaches and a hitting partner at Coco Gauff’s practice session on a cloudy Sunday afternoon at the All England Club as the 15-year-old American prepared for what could be the toughest test yet of her hard-to-believe Grand Slam debut.
A qualifier who is ranked 313th and the youngest player to make it to the second week of Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati in 1991, Gauff put in extra work on her forehand as she got ready to face 2018 French Open champion Simona Halep of Romania. It’s the most anticipated matchup of the fourth round as the grass-court major tournament resumes today after its traditional Middle Sunday break.
“I don’t know a lot about her,” said the 27-year-old Halep, who is seventh in the WTA ranking and has been No. 1 twice since 2017.
For all she has already accomplished over the past 1 1/2 weeks — including a first-round victory against seven-time major champion Venus Williams — and all the attention she has received — messages via social media from Michelle Obama, Beyonce’s mother and singer Jaden Smith thrilled her the most — what truly stands out about Gauff is her composure, both on and off the tennis court.
“You can kind of fake it till you make it,” said Gauff, who lives in Delray Beach, Florida. “But I’m not faking it, at least right now.”
She was never overwhelmed by facing Williams, someone she has grown up admiring. She spoke about resetting her mind after that and won her next match in straight sets, too, against a past Wimbledon semifinalist. And in the third round, at Centre Court of all places, Gauff was not bothered by twice being a point from losing.
“My parents are just telling me to stay calm, stay focused, because the tournament is not over yet,” Gauff said. “That’s why I’ve been kind of celebrating the night after the matches, then the next day back to practice.”
That’s the sort of levelheadedness that could help her turn what right now is a brief, magical run into a lengthy, successful career. Gauff — her given name is Cori, but she prefers the nickname Coco — has plenty of help in that regard.
Since she was 10, she has worked with the French tennis academy run by Serena Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Since 2017, the year Gauff was a junior runner-up at the U.S. Open at age 13, she has been represented by the management company co-founded by Roger Federer and his longtime agent, Tony Godsick.
Before each match, Gauff said, she has been speaking to Godsick’s wife, Mary Joe Fernandez, who won a U.S. Open match less than two weeks after turning 14 and went on to reach three Grand Slam singles finals and earn two major doubles trophies.
Gauff’s parents were both athletes in college: Her mother, Candi, ran track at Florida State; her father, Corey, played basketball at Georgia State.
“They have the biggest input, especially my mom. She definitely changed my mindset in how I look on things. My dad, he’s the reason why I dream so big,” Gauff said. “I think the kind of ‘believing part’ of my dad and the more ‘stay focused, stay calm’ of my mom is like a good mix.”