Many of the world’s top players have fallen victim to online criticism but Coco Gauff sees it as a source of inspiration.
The 19-year-old American recently claimed the biggest title of her career at the US Open where she beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final. A milestone for the youngster who has spent a lot of her young career in the limelight. Immediately after that win, she said on the court ‘to those who thought they were putting water on my fire, you’re really adding gas.’ This a comment that has resonated with other athletes, including basketball Breanna Stewart who referenced the remark in her WNBA MVP acceptance speech.
“It was really cool to be quoted by such an incredible athlete as her, especially someone that’s older to me, way more established in her field or her sport than I am, draw inspiration from me,” Gauff commented on Stewart during her Monday press conference in Beijing.
Gauff is back in action this week at the China Open where she is the third seed. In her opening match, she beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 6-3, to record her 13th tour win in a row. Overall, she has won 16 matches at WTA 1000 events so far this season.
Looking to end her season with more silverware, the world No.3 says her approach of using negative comments to her advantage is an approach she doesn’t recommend for every player.
“I feel like my brain just works differently,” she explained. “I still have the filters on my Instagram. I don’t see anything. I see the comments.’
“I used to not be on Twitter at all. I’m still really not on Twitter much. But sometimes you get caught up in the scroll. The way the page is, the accounts that you interact with, you see yourself. I interact with tennis a lot obviously, so those tweets come up. Obviously I see about myself, positive and negative.’
“I wouldn’t say negativity is something that’s welcome. It’s more something that I draw inspiration from. I wouldn’t recommend everybody to do that.”
“My agent and my team advise not to comment back, so I use my racquet to do it (smiling).”
Already qualified for the WTA Finals after this year, Gauff isn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon. Recently she accepted a wildcard to play at the Zhengzhou Open which will take place straight after Beijing.
“I wanted to have a second tournament in case this one doesn’t go as well,” she said. “I wanted matches before the WTA Finals because from the US Open to the Finals is a long stint. If you lose early here (in Beijing), the Finals is a long stint.”
“I wanted to play at least two tournaments down here.”
Gauff will next play Petra Martić on Tuesday.
