"My parents still want me to do college classes" - Coco Gauff opens up about her upbringing & the values instilled in her 

Coco Gauff was recently asked whether she has ever thought of pursuing higher studies as a secondary activity to her fledgling career on the Hologic WTA tour. She responded in the affirmative and revealed that her parents insisted that she undertook a college course.

The 19-year-old had an impressive week in Cincinnati, where she lost only one set en route to her maiden WTA 1000 title. In her post-match press conference, the teen was probed on her interests outside tennis, which led to the conversation regarding her possibly completing college in the future.

The American said that she had actually been putting it off while disclosing that her parents always emphasize "the importance of knowledge."

"Yeah, definitely. I think my parents always, they still want me to, like, do college classes. I've been pushing it off, so I don't know what that's going to entail," Gauff said and laughed. "Hopefully they don't see this. Next year, next year. It's been a year,"

"I think for me, they always express the importance of knowledge. I still 100% support people going to higher education. I still want to do it for myself. I'm just not in the mentality to take that on yet."

Gauff then claimed that essay writing was her forte and that it had fetched her good grades in school. She also revealed that she was the typical teacher's pet during those days.

"I think for me as a kid, I always want to improve and get better. Even when I would write essays and get good grades, I was a teacher's pet, to be honest. I always strived to be better. I think that's kind of a social awareness," the 19-year-old remarked

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"My dad told me that college taught him a lot of discipline" - Coco Gauff on why her parents wanted her to pursue higher studies

Coco Gauff celebrates after finally beating Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati for the first time in her career

Coco Gauff showed a lot of composure at the 2023 Cincinnati Open to win her third title this year. She even overcame a 0-7 head-to-head record against the World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals before romping to a straight sets victory over the unseeded Karolina Muchova in the championship match.

Although Gauff has shown great poise on the court in 2023, there is vast room for improvement for the teen from the USA. In that context, she remarked that it was her father who believed that college further helps nurture discipline, which was another reason why he was so eager for her to go to college.

"Yeah, my dad told me that college taught him a lot of discipline and stuff, all that. He's instilled that into me," she said. "I think I learned that more in tennis, to be honest. But school taught me that I have interests outside of tennis."

Towards the end of the press conference, Gauff also expressed gratitude towards her parents for helping her realize that she didn't need to define herself solely as a tennis player.

"I think that the biggest thing that my parents wanted me to continue in school, was because it made me realize I'm much more than a tennis player. That was the biggest learning experience, that I have the potential to be successful in other things outside of tennis."