NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Coco Gauff of
American tennis sensation Coco Gauff expressed the exhilaration she felt after winning the U.S. Open last year, and the 19-year-old is eager to pursue more such moments of triumph in the 2024 season.
At the 2023 U.S. Open in New York, Gauff etched her name in history by clinching the title, ending a six-year wait for a homegrown champion.
As the first teenager to compete in a U.S. Open final since Serena Williams in 2001, Gauff faced a tough challenge, losing the opening set to Aryna Sabalenka but made a resounding comeback to secure her first Grand Slam title.
Reflecting on the intense emotions of that moment, Gauff told WTA Insider: “You can only feel that accomplishing some kind of dream. I want to keep feeling that as much as possible.
“It felt like a drug.”
“I told my team I could understand how people get addicted to certain things because if that was a drug, I definitely would be chasing that feeling,” she added.
“So I definitely want to feel that feeling as many times as I possibly can, so I’m doing everything I can to replicate it.”
Gauff, who has harbored significant goals since her childhood, emphasized, “Winning a Slam gave me reassurance that I could reach those goals.
“I don’t think my motivation has stopped in any way. I probably feel even more motivated because the feeling I had at match point was a crazy feeling.”
New Year Begins With A Win
Kicking off the 2024 season in Auckland on Tuesday, Gauff secured a victory in the first round of the ASB Classic, defeating Claire Liu 6-4, 6-2.
Her next challenge in the second round will be against 16-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova in the WTA 250 event, which serves as a tune-up for the upcoming Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year.
Having participated in only two tournaments after the U.S. Open, Gauff expressed her freshness and set her sights on winning a second major title.
“Pre-seasons are unique because you’re really not playing any girls until the end,” Gauff explained.
“So it’s tough to gauge your performance when you’re playing with a bunch of guys. But for the most part, being a Grand Slam champion didn’t change the way that I trained.
“I’m still training just as hard as when I was chasing my first Grand Slam. Now I’m chasing my second one.”
The Australian Open is set to commence on January 14, and Gauff, with a fourth-round finish in 2020 and 2023 as her best results at the Melbourne Park major, is determined to make her mark once again.
