Coco Gauff’s victory at last year’s Open was a watershed movement in the sport’s recent history yet the American admits she didn’t believe it was possible just a couple of weeks ago.
In a press conference ahead of her appearance at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Gauff revealed her mindset and confessed that she suffers from ‘imposter syndrome’ issues that affect her self-belief.
The youngster revealed that after her R1 loss against compatriot Sofia Kenin at Wimbledon last July, she had already written off the rest of the calendar and was already looking at 2024 Australian Open. However, the mindset shifted after she got her confidence and form back with the victories in Washington and Cincinnati before creating history at the home slam in New York.
“After Wimbledon, I was feeling terrible, so I was, like, I just need to get through the rest of the year mentally and try to push through,” she said. “My eyes were set on Australia and trying to win that.
“Then, I don’t know, like, everything happened on hard court season. (Washington) D.C. happened. Then Cincinnati happened. You know, even though people were saying I was a contender, all the analysts and all that, I didn’t feel like one. I was, like, fluke, I don’t know.
“I very often have imposter syndrome, so I didn’t have any hopes for anything. After I had a tough match against Laura Siegemund in the first round, I was like, well, I was happy to get out of the first round.
“I had a lot of tough matches that week at US Open, or two weeks. I can’t say that I confidently felt like I was going to win that tournament literally until I was in the final.
“When I woke up the day to play the final, I just felt like no matter what happened I wasn’t going to lose that day. It was a weird feeling to have, but I just felt it.”
The WTA No. 3 also expressed that she is keen on winning a clay court tourney ahead of Roland Garros as she admitted clay is one of her favorite surfaces.
“I’m not looking at the French Open right now. I’m focused on Stuttgart,” Gauff added.
“You know, I want to win, try to win Madrid or Rome or here, just because I can’t remember the last time I won a clay court title was, like, a couple years ago if I’m not mistaken.
“So I kind of just want to get a recent clay title under my belt. So any of the ones over the next couple weeks would be nice, but I’m always feeling confident about myself.
“Especially after US Open, I can be a contender. Semifinal in Australia, losing to Aryna who ended up winning. So I feel like I’m definitely a contender in all the tournaments, and it just comes down to the crunch-time moments and who can perform better.
“I think clay and hard are definitely my favorite surfaces. Again, I can play well on all of them depending on how I show up to a tournament, honestly. For the clay court season this year, I’m really optimistic.”