Coco Gauff: “I prefer just to be praised because of my game”

Coco Gauff has expressed a desire to be known for her game rather than her achievements as a teenager. The American stated that it is "annoying" when her age is constantly under the spotlight.

Coco Gauff ended 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva’s dream debut run at the 2023 French Open with a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1 victory to advance to the fourth round of the Clay Slam.

The World No. 6 emerged victorious in three sets in the all-teen encounter between the two youngest players left in the French Open draw in two hours and three minutes.

Gauff, the 2022 French Open finalist, advanced to the second week of the Clay Slam for the third consecutive year. The 19-year-old had to dig deep after losing the first set, which lasted 65 minutes in the tie-break. She came back all guns blazing and dropped only two games to take the next two sets.

In the post-match conference, Gauff was asked whether she thought the media and analysts focused too much on young players’ ages. The 19-year-old responded in the affirmative and admitted it gets a bit annoying. The American revealed that, at a young age, she wanted to be known just for her game and not her stats.

“Age is important to mention sometimes, but as a player and going through it, yes, it gets a little bit annoying. Because I feel like I'm the type of person I don't need to be praised because of my age or anything. I prefer just to be praised because of my game, not because of things I'm doing at whatever age,” said Gauff.

The World No. 6 also revealed a bizarre statistic she read about herself recently.

“I remember I saw a stat the other day, and they were, like, I have the most bagels by a teenager on tour,” she said. “It's cool, but I feel like some of these stats, I don't know, y'all be finding the smallest details. I'm like who keeps track of this stuff?” she added.

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Coco Gauff says players don’t think about their opponent’s age on court

Coco Gauff says she only focuses on playing the ball during matches

Coco Gauff further mentioned that when she’s on the court, she's not thinking about age. The 19-year-old admitted that age does play a factor, but their opponent’s age does not faze the players during a match. The American also added that her focus is on playing the ball.

“When I'm on the court, we're not thinking about our age. I don't think she (Andreeva) was thinking, Oh, I'm only 16, and she's 19; she's older. If she was thinking that she wouldn't win a match because she beat people older than me. And at my age, I wasn't thinking about that, I was just thinking about playing the ball,” said the American.

Gauff also opined that people love to talk about her age, even though she is growing.

“I think honestly age does play a factor, but yes, as I've been growing even now at 19, people still talk about my age. It's like people are like, you know, she's still so young. Yeah, I'm 19. I've been young, you know,” Gauff said, smiling.

Coco Gauff will next take on unseeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, who reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over qualifier Kayla Day.