"Treating the stadium like my house" - Coco Gauff explains why she thoroughly enjoys the hospitality at Miami Open 2023

Coco Gauff opened her 2023 Miami Open campaign with a win over Canadian Rebecca Marino in straight sets on Friday, March 24.

In a post-match interview, the 19-year-old spoke highly about the hospitality that she received at the Hard Rock Stadium, where she is currently practicing between matches.

Coco Gauff is accompanied by her two younger brothers, who are equally welcome to enjoy the facilities. She mentioned that she had been given a suite at the venue where she relaxed and played video games with them.

"I love it so much because you feel really relaxed here, specially having my brothers here. My brothers are playing spike ball and soccer. We even got lucky, they gave us a suite here so we took the Xbox up to the suite," she said.

The American sounded at home when she joked that if the organizers allowed her, she would even sleep and live there.

"So I'm really just treating the stadium like my house to be honest. I took a nap before my match. I mean if they let me I would just sleep here," she said. "I love this site so much. I only went to Crandon as a fan, never as a player, but I gotta say it doesnt get any better than here at Hard Rock Stadium."

Gauff continued to express her love for the atmosphere at the Miami Open before resuming the interview.

Coco Gauff keeps her calm by not getting "locked down" during tournaments

Coco Gauff in action at the 2023 Miami Open

In the same interview, when asked if she preferred not to go out during tournaments to focus exclusively on her game, the World No. 6 stated that she used to be "super locked down" earlier but not anymore.

"I like to keep it chill, I mean last night we went to dinner. I mean, before, in these tournaments I used to be super locked down. Then I realized that when I'm practicing I don't do that, like after practice I'd go to the movies or something so I was like, why change in tournaments something that I don't do everyday?" she said.

She added that she liked maintaining balance and not changing her routine drastically between practice and matches.

Because then I'm so hyperfocused that personally, doesn't work for me. So I try to treat the tournament almost like practice because when you're practicing you try to treat it like a match, you try to treat it both ways in a way." she said.

Coco Gauff will next play against Russian Anastasia Potapova in the third round of the 2023 Miami Open.