Grafter Gauff: ‘It’s not too easy’
Classy Coco cruises into the semifinals but denies any of her matches are not challenging
For American superstar Coco Gauff, there is no such thing as an easy tennis match.
Although the evidence of her week in Auckland may suggest otherwise — she has hardly been pushed in her run to the last four — it’s not the way she feels.
There is never complacency and always things to work on, even if the world No 3 has an unmistakable aura, the kind of presence that can intimidate opponents, in the same way Serena Williams did for so many years.
That’s how it felt yesterday, as she eviscerated eighth seed Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-1 in just 53 minutes.
The world No 43 Gracheva is no slouch — she beat three top 10 players last year and made a WTA final — but could not find any answers. The Frenchwoman couldn’t deal with the power and pace of Gauff, and progressively unravelled.
It continued a pattern here, as Gauff has spent an average of 68 minutes on court and hasn’t come close to losing a set, but she is unperturbed.
“Every day, I come out to play, obviously the scoreline says otherwise, but at the same time, it’s a professional level, it’s tough enough for me and I just played good [yesterday],” said Gauff. “I don’t want to sit here and say it is too easy, it’s not.”
But Gauff rarely has bad days. She has always had the weapons — which have developed every year since her tour debut as a 14-year-old — but has refined her mental approach over the past 12 months, which is a scary prospect for future opponents.
“I’m a lot smarter of a player, I feel like I know what level I can bring, know how to play and manage it. Every match isn’t going to go my way but I am making smarter decisions mentally on the court with emotions and everything.”
She is also more relaxed. Gauff has always had a balanced approach, helped by her family values, but has become better at managing expectations and pressure.
“I’m having fun, not putting so much pressure on myself. I’m No 1 seed and ranked quite a bit higher than some of the girls I’m playing so far. Sometimes you can go into that and put yourself under pressure.”
It also helps when you are serving bombs. The 19-year-old was imperious from the line yesterday, landing
72 per cent of first serves, including five aces, and regularly topped
200km/h, a level reached only by the Williams sisters here among female players.
“I’ve been working on it a lot. When it’s on, it’s a huge weapon for me, and I have been trying to make it consistent. [Yesterday] was about as consistent as you can get, considering how big I was going for it. Obviously if I want to make more, I will slow it down.”
For the first time this week, the weather interrupted the action yesterday, with a short rain delay just after the warm-up. Dark clouds threatened again towards the end of the second set but — as in last year’s final — Gauff ’s timing seemed impeccable as she wrapped up the match just before another shower.
“I felt like it was going to rain again but I don’t think that controlled my play,” Gauff said with a laugh.
“I’m happy I was able to finish that game and it rained when we shook hands. It is in the back of your mind but also it is not in your control how fast the match goes.”
Gauff faces compatriot Emma Navarro in today’s semifinal, after the third seed eliminated Croatia’s Petra Martic 6-4, 6-3. The American pair go back a long way, first facing each other in a junior competition when Gauff was 12 and Navarro 15.
“I used to always play up,” said Gauff.
“I don’t remember who won but she was always a great player. Sometimes you just have that feeling with girls that you are going to play them your whole life and she was one of them.”
The pair practised together earlier this week and the world No 32 Navarro wasn’t afraid to admit Gauff is a daunting opponent, especially in this form.
“She’s an insane athlete,” said Navarro. “She covers the court super well and she is really solid in her whole game. There’s not really any holes in her game. She does everything really well.”