NEW YORK | When asked on the court after his first-round victory at the US Open to describe his performance to fans gathered in the stands at Arthur Ashe, where especially Barack and Michelle Obama werereplied Coco Gauff: “slowly.”
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The young American then took a short break, as if he wanted to give the audience time to react. The style effect worked and laughter erupted into the New York night.
It is that during the meeting The German Laura Siegmund tried to reduce the tempo when servinga matter of time to recover.
The anecdote is actually just that, an anecdote. But it can help us understand the enthusiasm surrounding the 19-year-old Gauff, who, despite being “only” the sixth seed at this United States Open, is, in the eyes of many, the favorite to lose the major honors.
Talent, sales and maturity
Because the young player not only has a sense of humor, but also tennis. Sporting tennis that, even though we’ve seen her shine since she was 15 – she defeated Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019 – has made wonderful progress over time. Tennis as entertaining as his personality.
And Gauff not only has great talent and great wit, she is also an excellent ambassador for her sport, talkative, mature and committed.
Photo: AFP
At the beginning of her match against Siegmund, she gestured to the audience not to applaud her opponent’s missed serves.
After that, of course, things got difficult. Gauff admits it: She decided to stop defending the German when she started slowing the pace between her serves.
When she started feeling “frustrated” and decided to take responsibility for it, she explained.
Title, enthusiasm
This summer, Gauff, newly advised by Brad Gilbert, was crowned champion in Washington and Cincinnati, where she defeated world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland in the semifinals.
Of course, it was enough to get the American media carried away.
But why not?
In the land of Uncle Sam, tennis fans are looking for their new star. It has been a year since Serena Williams said goodbye to them in the largest tennis stadium in the world.
However, don’t compare Coco to Serena. She has been trying to avoid comparisons for years. And if she feels some pressure at this US Open, that she feels like “everyone is looking at her,” she told People magazine on Thursday, “she will never follow in Serena’s footsteps.”
“No one will take Serena’s place because she is unique,” she added. But I will try to be the best version of Coco.”