American starts as underdog but winning a second major would underline the 21-year-old’s precocious talent
Coco Gauff was only 18 when she navigated a path to a grand slam final for the first time. After her breakthrough in the preceding years, and the intense hype and scrutiny that accompanied her as she tried to build her career, Gauff’s run to the 2022 French Open final proved to herself and the world that she was ready to live up to those expectations.
Although she did not win the title, her experience at Roland Garros then was an essential lesson that has guided her over the past few years. In the buildup to that final against Iga Swiatek, she struggled badly with her nerves and her intense fear of failure. “At first I thought it would be the end of the world if I lost, and the sun still rose the next day,” said Gauff after beating Loïs Boisson in their semi-final on Thursday. “So knowing, regardless of the result, the sun will still rise. Especially being in a city like Paris, I was walking around the next day, and no one knew that I lost [in 2022], and no one cared. Some people know who I am, but not a lot and not everyone. Just realising that however big the moment seems in our lives, [it] is not as big in the grand scheme of things.”
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