Coco Gauff revisits father Corey's words of strength after comeback win at Australian Open

Coco Gauff recollected an important reminder that her father, Corey, gave her a couple of years ago. Gauff's recollection of the reminder came in the immediate aftermath of her comeback victory against Belinda Bencic in the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open.

Gauff, the World No. 3, hadn't lost a set at the 2025 Australian Open until her fourth-round match against Bencic. However, despite the American's 5-7 first-set loss to the Swiss, she admirably bounced back and produced a dominant display, winning the second and third sets 6-2, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the prestigious hardcourt Major for the second successive year.

In her post-match, on-court interview, Coco Gauff was told the following statistics by interviewer Jelena Dokic:

"I don't know how aware you are of some of the numbers, but this is now your eighth win out of nine matches played that have gone to three sets in Grand Slams. That's an unbelievable record. Just also, another one. You are now only the fifth woman ever to start three seasons off with nine wins other than Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Serena Williams and Margaret Court. Did you know that second one?" (at 0:52)

In response, Gauff spoke up about her amazement at matching the statistics of tennis legends like Graf, Seles, Williams and Court.

"I saw something on Instagram about that so I knew but yeah, it's pretty crazy to be amongst the same stat line as legends and yeah, I'm very grateful and you know, we worked hard in the off-season. Obviously there's still a lot to go for me to accomplish my goal, but I can say that I'm proud of myself and happy with how I performed," Gauff said.

The 2023 US Open champion went on to lay bare how she tends to recall her father Corey's words whenever she loses the first set in a match.

"Yeah, it's funny because, you know, not too long ago, I think maybe a couple of years ago I had a really bad stat line; when I lost the first set, I would lose the match. It was like, really bad, so I remember my dad was like, "You gotta get some fight in you". So every time I lose the first set, I kind of think about that," Gauff added.

Recently, Gauff gave a shoutout to her parents who ushered in their 24th wedding anniversary amid their daughter's 2025 Australian Open campaign.

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Coco Gauff shared an all-smiles picture of her parents on the 24th wedding anniversary ahead of the Australian Open 2R

Corey Gauff (left), Coco Gauff (center) and Candi Gauff (right) (Source: Getty)

Corey and Candi, Coco Gauff's father and mother respectively, celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary recently. The occasion came prior to Gauff's second-round match at the 2025 Australian Open and the World No. 3 shared an endearing Instagram Story, giving a shoutout to her parents.

"Also today is my parents anniversary! 24 years!!" Gauff wrote.

Coco Gauff is slated to lock horns with the resurgent Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. The American and the Spaniard have faced each other on six previous occasions on the WTA Tour, with their head-to-head level at 3-3.