Local heroine and fan favourite, Coco Gauff, downed Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in a tightly fought Round 2 match on Arthur Ashe Stadium that lasted 1 hour and 39 minutes.
Gauff had met American star gymnast Simone Biles before the match and described first seeing Biles at the Olympics.
‘Sticks in the memory’
“Yeah, I think it was honestly her first Olympics. I don’t remember what year that was, but I think it was in Rio.
“That was like, maybe one of the first few times. I’m sure I saw her before then, but that’s the one that sticks in my memory the most.
“Yeah, I mean, she’s the greatest, one of the greatest athletes. It’s her and Serena for me on my Mount Rushmore of athletes.
“Yeah, I think everything that she went through on the mental side of things in the sport, it’s something I follow closely and try to learn from.”
Coco Gauff was seen to be shaking in her chair during the changeover when trailing Vekic 6-5 in the first set.
She admitted it was purely a case of being overwhelmed with nerves and the importance of the occasion.
“Yeah, I think it was just nerves and just pressure, honestly, and I’m someone that usually can thrive on that.
“Yeah, there’s been a lot on me this tournament, more than usual, which I expected coming in.
“So, yeah, basically what you saw out there was what it was, and I was able to reset through it.
“But yeah, it was a challenging moment for me on the court. Yeah, it’s been a tough couple of weeks on and off the court, but I’m just happy to get through it today.”
‘Crying’
Coco Gauff was very open when describing how it was for her to be so vulnerable when crying in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It feels human, I think. I think being an athlete, people kind of disregard that side of us, the human side of things.
“So, I think when I’m out there in that moment, I kind of give into the pressures, but I” feel like that’s normal.
“I feel like every pro athlete who’s been on the pedestal that I’ve been on has felt that pressure at some point in their career where they showed it publicly like I did or privately.
“But I think I just show people what it’s like to be a human, and I have bad days, but I think it’s more about how you get up after those bad moments and how you show up after that.
“I think today I showed that I can get up after feeling the worst I’ve ever felt on the court.”
Encouragement
Coco Gauff reflected on how she can take a great deal of encouragement from her win.
“I think the most encouragement is also how I showed up in the second set with the serve. I think I won, like, a lot of points off first serve, and I don’t know how many doubles I had in the second, but it was a lot less than the first. That’s for sure.
“I think this whole tournament will stick with me for the rest of my career knowing that if I can get through, like, two tough matches feeling how I’m feeling, I know I can get through pretty much anything.
“I know regardless, I hope I get more Grand Slam finals and when those nerves come, I’ll recall on this feeling and knowing that it probably can’t get much worse than this,” she said smiling.
Dave Marshall is reporting exclusively from the US Open in Flushing Meadows for The South African.
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