Coco Gauf secured progress to her first Australian Open quarter-final and she admitted a growing maturity is coming into her game as she targets a second Grand Slam title.
The 19-year-old American claimed US Open glory last September, as she cemented her status as one of the most celebrated female athletes in the world.
Now she is threatening to lift another major title and after Iga Swiatek’s shock defeat in Melbourne, Gauff is a leading contender to lift the trophy.
In a compelling post-match press conference, Gauff suggested her growing maturity is helping her to take control of her life on and off the court, even though she has yet to toast her 20th birthday.
“As each season goes, I’ve definitely been more vocal about what I want on and off the court,” said Gauff.
“At first, like 15, 16, my parents were doing a lot of it for me just so I could focus on tennis. Now moving into more of the role. I’m getting older, having to make more decisions, all of that, on and off court.
“I know myself pretty well. I know what I need to do to succeed, not every single thing. That’s why we have coaches and people that advise me. As a player, I think all the great players kind of know what they need to do and need help from others.
“I think for me, I know what I need to do. It’s just all about having the right team to guide me into that path on how I want to do it or how I want to train or how I want to, I don’t know, work with certain brands, stuff like that.
“It’s definitely been a progress with each year. Adulthood is something I’m really enjoying learning. I’m not completely there, but every year I think I’m getting better and better at it.”
She went on to reveal her father has stepped back from the more protective role he played in the formative stages of her career, but he remains a source of support when required.
“My dad naturally – not protective, not even make decisions, but naturally he’ll just be protective and be like, I can say no for you if you want me to,” she continued.
“Whenever he needs to be the bad guy, he’ll just be like, Blame it on me. He doesn’t really care what people think about him. I always appreciate having, like, him by my side. Because me, I’m also in the position I probably can’t be as assertive as him just because of me.
“In general, I think he’s just always been the one to do those decisions. Now he kind of stepped back in the role and just saying like, I’m here if you need me, but I’m not going to make decisions for you, but I can give you advice, all of that.
“There’s never been pushback. I think that’s just how they always raised me, slowly letting me see the behind-the-scenes stuff and teaching me about it.
I have a lot to learn. I would say the end of last year was like the start of really doing more of myself off the court.
Gauff has been a big part of the women’s game for sometime now and she admits she sometimes feels older than her birth certificate suggests.\
“Sometimes I forget. I know I’m not going to be a teenager anymore, but I just feel like I’ve lived so many lives the last four years, that I just feel older than 19,” she added.
“I remember like when I’m looking at the other girls on tour who are 16, and now coming up, 16, 17, like they just feel so young and I just feel so old. I know I’m not that old. But, yeah, I definitely do forget my age a lot. Yeah, 100%.”
Gauff will face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk next, who made the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time with a 6-2 6-1 victory over qualifier Maria Timofeeva.
Kostyuk had her breakthrough run here six years ago as a 15-year-old, reaching the third round, and she said: “Definitely a lot has changed. I really feel like it was in a different lifetime. A lot of things have happened in the past six years. I’ve changed probably six times already.
“I always say that I think change is always good. That means I’m not staying in one spot. Whether you feel like you’re changing in the worst way or in the better way, I think it’s good to keep all the change happening.
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