Gauff run built on focus, belief
Fifteen-year-old relying on parents’ advice ahead of showdown vs. Halep
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-tobelieve Grand Slam debut.
A qualifier who’s ranked 313th and the youngest player to make it to Week 2 at Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati in 1991, Gauff put in extra work on her forehand as she got ready to face former No. 1 Simona Halep in the most-anticipated matchup of the fourth round when the tournament resumes Monday.
“I don’t know a lot about her,” said Halep, the 2018 French Open champion.
For all that she’s already accomplished over the last 1 ⁄ weeks —
2 including a victory over seven-time major champion Venus Williams — and all of the attention she’s 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 ’til 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 wasn’t 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 — gets plenty of help.
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 the junior runner-up at the U.S. Open at 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’s 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 collect 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.”
Sure is working thus far.