Last year’s US Open champion Coco Gauff is operating with a “new motto” in New York as she prepares to defend her title.
The American plays her first match against Varvara Gracheva on Monday as she looks to retain the crown, after winning her first and so far only Grand Slam title in 2023.
While Gauff only reached the fourth round of Wimbledon earlier in the summer, she has semi-final exits in both the Australian and French Opens this season.
However, speaking to the press before her opener in New York, Gauff said she was looking forward to the increased pressure as defending champion.
She said: “Yeah, it’s a new year for a new opportunity. Really excited to be back here and have a great tournament.
“Obviously, coming in as defending champion is a little bit of pressure, but also more of a privilege, because as my new motto is: If you defend, that means you won something before. I’m excited to be back here and hopefully have a good two weeks.”
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Gauff only reached the round of 32 in the Cincinnati Masters warm-up tournament, but with her recent involvement in the Olympic Games in Paris, she was not too concerned with an early defeat.
She explained: “Yeah, I mean, obviously I wanted to go into Cincinnati and win, but I had more realistic things in my head just coming from [the] Olympics and, you know, switching surfaces so fast.
“So really, the main focus was trying to be as ready as possible for here, which I feel like was a blessing in disguise. I lost so early, because I was able to actually train, which I hadn’t been able to. I do my best results when I come off a training block.
“I was able to train for a good week and a half and obviously still have a couple more days to do that. The last couple of practices have gone really well, which before, like, during Cincinnati wasn’t having great practices, in Toronto wasn’t having great practices.
“Here I’m having great practices, which, you know, doesn’t mean I’m going to go out on the match and play great, but it does give you more confidence when you’re actually practising great the week before a tournament, yeah.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-23 21:24:00
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