All-Access Hour with Coco Gauff

“The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is a week to see what I have to work on”

Stuttgart. Aged 18, Coco Gauff is the youngest main draw player at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Despite her youth, the American has established herself in the world Top 10 and has come to Stuttgart high on confidence. She spoke about…

...her return to the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and her first practice session:
“I arrived on Monday and had a hit. I hit on Tuesday morning too. It was pretty smooth travelling here. We had a great week in Delray Beach in the Billie Jean King Cup and I was ready to get over here to Europe and we’ll see how the week goes for me.”

...her preparations for the clay court season:
“Being home in Delray Beach was great. We had a lot of fun on and off the court with Team USA. I think it was a great way to wrap up the part of the season on the hard courts in USA. I did practice a lot on clay before the Billie Jean King Cup. My priority was to get ready for the clay season.”

...the challenge of dealing with jet lag:
“I do typically well with jet lag, so that’s not one of the concerns. The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is a week to see what I have to work on. Obviously the goal is to win, but I know of my circumstances, like coming from home I didn’t know how I was going to feel. Right now I feel better than I thought I was. I was practicing really well today. So we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

...splitting with her coach Diego Moyano:
“It wasn’t really like my decision. He was having some personal things going on, so he had to step down. It was something that I think both of us didn’t want to happen because we did have a good time together. But I understand that, and I wish him nothing but the best. I know that he’s always a person that if I need to call I’ll pick up the phone. Now it’s just me and my dad. I’ll figure somebody out after the European season.”

...working together with Diego Moyano:
“I definitely became a better clay court player with Diego. It showed in the results. I think I became a better decision maker. He helped me a lot with my serve. Before, I was either leading or Top 3 on the tour with double faults. Now I don’t think I’m in the Top 10. That was probably the biggest improvement I’ve made with him.”

...her current confidence:
“I think my confidence is really high at the moment. After the tournament in Miami, it did drop a little, then I had the Billie Jean King Cup where I had a good week. I feel like putting it into retrospect where I was last year to this year, I feel like definitely I’m a much better player. When I step out on the court, the confidence is now much higher. It wasn’t always that way. I would get a lot of anxiety about where I was playing-wise. I think it’s just fighting those thoughts and understanding that I belong here. It’s something that I’m working on to realise I’m here for a reason and my ranking is there for a reason, and I definitely deserve that.

Further information as well as film and photo material and our Media Guide can be found in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.de.

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Markus Rothermel

Communications, Sustainability and Politics

Spokesperson Sports Communications

+49 (0) 170 / 911 0779

markus.rothermel@porsche.de

Text

Language

English (Porsche AG)

Archive No.

T23_0174

Release date

2023/04/18