Coco Gauff has revealed she will look to “minimise the moment” as she gears up for a huge Olympic Games campaign in Paris this summer.
World No 2 Gauff will head to Roland Garros as part of a stacked US tennis team featuring Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, and Taylor Fritz, among others.
The 20-year-old was meant to make her Olympic debut at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games three years ago, though suffered late heartbreak when she was forced to withdraw after a positive COVID test.
Gauff will be the second seed in the women’s singles draw but will also play women’s doubles with long-time partner Pegula – and is also likely to star in the mixed doubles draw.
A former singles finalist at Roland Garros, and the reigning doubles champion alongside Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova, she will be discussed among the big favourites in both disciplines.
Speaking to the WTA, Gauff admitted her debut was a “big deal” – but that she would not find herself stressed about the competition.
She said: “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do since I was a kid, and I have the opportunity to represent my country – it means a lot.
“I’ve grown up a lot so now I’m just taking in the moments and being grateful for every day I get to step on the court, and every day that I get to be alive in general.
“I could probably go into it making it a big deal – which it is a big deal – but I think I play my best tennis when I try to minimise the moment as much as possible, so I’m just going to enjoy it.
“I think it’s one of those things that win or lose, it will always be a positive experience for me – even if I could experience the biggest disappointment there, I still got to compete at an Olympics.
“So I’m just going to try and enjoy it.”
Gauff has not been in action since her Wimbledon round four loss to Emma Navarro, who is also in the US Olympic team this summer.
Though WTA events are being held in the build-up to the Games, several of the tour’s leading stars have chosen to rest and not play a warm-up tournament.
Among those to do so is world No 1 Iga Swiatek, who lost in the third round at SW19 but will go into Paris as an overwhelming favourite having won Roland Garros the last three years – beating Gauff at every edition.
World No 4 Elena Rybakina and No 5 Jasmine Paolini will also not be in action ahead of the women’s singles event, which starts on Saturday 27th July.
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