Coco Gauff’s admiration for Rafael Nadal runs deep. It was evident when Nadal announced his retirement through a video clip last year, Gauff was quite emotional, to say the least. “It’s going to happen to everybody one day. Watching the video, (I was) a bit emotional because Rafa is all I’ve known growing up… Pretty sure he’s won Roland Garros for the majority of my life,” the American No. 1 said. Nadal always wanted to end his career on a high, but did he manage to do that? Well, “I’m not tired of playing tennis, but it’s my body that doesn’t want to play anymore.” Well, he was heartbroken to bits! But the Spaniard left a legacy way beyond his sporting achievements. How does his fan-girl Coco want to end her career, though?
Coco Gauff recently turned 21, and she has plenty of years still left in her career. It’s only 6 years back in 2018 that her pro career started, and Gauff has seen quite a few ups and downs already. From stunning the seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams as a 15-year-old in the R16 of the Wimbledon Championships to reaching the final of the French Open in 2021 and then becoming the first teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999, she has already accomplished quite a few astonishing feats in her career!
With these early successes, however, comes the burden of additional pressure. We’ve often seen Coco receive a lot of flak for her failures. But she has never stopped climbing up the stairs. The American is currently world number 3, and one of the major reasons behind her rapid rise is that she has managed to avoid injuries, which is not easy considering the modern-day scheduling. We’ve seen another Rafa fan and WTA star, Iga Swiatek, consistently voice concerns about the hectic WTA scheduling and how physically and mentally demanding it is for all the players.
Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros, Paris, France – June 2, 2024 Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates after winning her fourth round match against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
Speaking about the hectic schedules, Swiatek once even said these “crazy” schedules make “tennis less fun for us.” With the burnout issue emerging as a serious and common issue in professional sports, players often have to take extended breaks to preserve their mental and physical well-being. But Coco Gauff, fortunately, hasn’t had to take any such long break yet. What’s the secret to her incredible longevity and fitness levels? Well, during a recent interview with Roland Garros, she talked about knowing exactly when to stop and when to push a little further.
“I guess the most important thing is just to not be physically burnt out, just because at the end of the day when it’s time to retire, I want to make sure it’s on my terms and not because of an injury or anything like that. So I think it’s just more so protecting my love for the sport and hopefully that it treats me with that love, too,” said the 21-year-old.
In that same interview, Coco also revealed that as she gets older, her love for the sport is increasing further as compared to what it was when she was 17 or 18 years old. The American youngster had to deal with a lot of pressure in the early days of her career but with more and more experience, she has been able to deal with the pressure better. What has been Coco’s biggest learning over the past twelve months?
‘Accepting the highs and lows’ – Coco Gauff reveals her biggest learning in the last twelve months
Coco Gauff started the 2024 season with a title triumph at the ASB Classic and ended it by winning the WTA Finals. However, in the middle of these two emphatic triumphs, there were quite a few moments of low. She failed to win a medal for her nation at the Paris Olympics, despite being the flag-bearer of the American contingent. Coco even struggled in the Grand Slams last year.
Highlighting that during her interview with RG.com, Gauff said, “I think just accepting the highs and lows. I think sometimes in sports you want to just stay on the high and kind of ride that wave, but especially with this sport, a season as long as tennis, it’s impossible to always be on that high wave, and there’s going to be some low moments, I think.“
She continued, “Just trying to stick through those tough moments and get better through them. Not feeling like the rest of the season is going to go that way. I feel like I’m able to turn it around. It’s happened before. I think it just takes one match or two matches to kind of get that confidence back.“
Coco recently faced another defeat at the hands of the Swiss star, Belinda Bencic, in the R16 of the Indian Wells Masters. Shortly after this disappointing exit, she said, “Obviously I wanted to do better, want to have better results, but it’s not something I can crush myself on. I’m trying to do better, and that’s all I can do.“
While Coco has been trying to work on things in practice, it doesn’t seem to be translating into results at the moment. She will be next seen in action at the Miami Open, which kickstarts on March 18. Are you backing her to bounce back in Miami?
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