Major winner Gauff says pressure is off
MELBOURNE — Now that the pressure to win a Grand Slam singles title as a teenager is over, Coco Gauff feels liberated enough to discuss her next target: a career tally in double digits.
Could be 10, 11, or more . . . no limits. Plus, an Olympic medal in Paris this year. Preferably gold, but silver or bronze would do — in singles, doubles, or mixed.
Gauff is entering the Australian Open as a reigning Grand Slam champion, new territory for the 19-year-old American. Had she not fulfilled those expectations at last year’s US Open, this would have been her last shot at being a teenage major winner.
Gauff, who turns 20 in March, believes she can play with more freedom now in pursuit of a second major title as the No. 4 seed at Melbourne Park.
Gauff ’s first-round match is against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, a 29-year-old from Slovakia who has only been past the third round once in 35 majors.
For Gauff, having rebounded from a shocking first-round exit at Wimbledon to winning a breakthrough major title at the very next major in New York has helped with a shift in mind-set.
“I think I put too much pressure on winning a Slam. I think I was feeling like I have to do it,” Gauff said.
“When I went on the scene at 15, I felt like I had to win a Slam as a teenager because that’s what everybody thought.
“Honestly, going into the US Open, I didn’t expect it. I felt like I was having a bad season, and my focus was just get through the season and focus on the Australian Open this year.”
It was the loss at Wimbledon that helped her take pause, relax, and think about all those rounds before the final, one by one. She’d thought losing in the first round would have been the worst thing to happen to her.
Turns out, “wasn’t even that bad,” she said. “The world didn’t end. The sun still shines. I still have my friends and family.
“I realized that losing isn’t all that bad, and that I should just focus on the battle and the process and enjoy it. I found myself being able to play freer and trust myself more.”
Gauff is in the same quarter of the draw as four-time major winner Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki, both past Australian Open champions who are returning to Melbourne Park as mothers for the first time.
Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up, and No. 8 Maria Sakkari are also there.
In tune-up tournaments, Gauff successfully defended her title in Auckland last weekend and defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka reached the final in Brisbane.
Second-ranked Sabalenka said she’s a better player 12 months on from her triumph in Australia.
“I had an incredible season last year, improved a lot as a player and as a person,” she said. “I did, really, a great preseason. We worked a lot. I felt like we improved a lot. I feel really great and feel like I’m ready to go.”
On the other side of the draw, top-ranked Iga Swiatek is in a tough section, starting with an opener against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Their only previous meeting was at the 2020 French Open, when Swiatek beat Kenin in the final.
At the bottom of that side of the draw are No. 5 Jessica Pegula and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who hasn’t gone past the second round at a major since then and is coming off eight months on the sidelines following operations on both wrists and an ankle.
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Jannik Sinner had the Carota Boys in the crowd and red-whiteand-green flags flying in Rod Laver Arena, helping Italy’s Davis Cup star feel right at home in the opening match on the center court.
Sinner took a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 first-round win over No. 59ranked Botic van de Zandschulp, needing 2½ hours to complete his first win since a memorable November when he twice beat Novak Djokovic and won the Davis Cup.
“Means a lot to me to start off with a win,” fourth-seeded Sinner said in a post-match TV interview as a half-dozen fans dressed in carrot costumes cheered from the stands.
Another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi, beat Adam Walton, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4.
The season’s first major is being played over 15 days — the first round is split over three days — and starting on a Sunday for the time.
Also advancing were Fernandez, who beat 17-year-old Sara Bejlek, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. and No. 9 Barbora Krejcikova, who rallied from a set and a breakdown to beat Mai Hontama, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Djokovic was set to open his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title in the night session on Rod Laver Arena. He’s on a 28match winning streak at Melbourne Park. The 10-time Australian Open champion’s firstround match was against Dino Prizmic, who won the junior title at last year’s French Open.
Sabalenka was scheduled to start her title defense against Ella Seidel in the last match of the day on the main showcourt.
Wozniacki, the 2018 champion, was returning to the Australian Open for the first time in four years and set to take on Magda Linette, a semifinalist last year.
Andre Agassi, who won the last of his four Australian titles in 2003, joined Evonne Goolagong Cawley to carry the trophies into the complex before play began.
Tourney organizers are honoring Goolagong Cawley on the 50th anniversary of the first of her four Australian Open titles. She also won Wimbledon twice and the French Open once.