‘It’s Very Rare’- Coco Gauff Says She Misses One Important Thing From Her Basketball Playing Days in Tennis

Coco Gauff, the American tennis star, has had a good year. Though the WTA Finals of last week weakened her spirit a bit, she is now ready to undo the loss. Gauff is looking forward to representing her nation in the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup.

She is craving a team event to wash off the strain of the last tournament’s unfortunate defeat. Here’s what she had to say about bringing back her game on track.

Coco Gauff is ready for a fresh start

The 18-year-old Gauff suffered a straight-set loss against the World No 1 Iga Swiatek in the group stage of the WTA Finals. On top of that, she and Jessica Pegula’s duo failed to live up to fans’ expectations who thought of them as the next Serena and Venus Williams. Therefore, she is looking for a way to let out the lingering frustration. “Texas didn’t go the way I wanted it to go. That motivated me even more to come here,” Gauff said.

Thereafter she added, “It’s very rare tennis experiences a team atmosphere. I played other team sports like basketball. That’s the one thing I did miss from playing (basketball). The Billie Jean Cup is what brings you closest to that.” This was Gauff’s debut in the WTA Finals. She stepped onto the hard courts of the Texas-based tournament as the youngest player since Maria Sharapova in 2004.

Read more: ‘My Worst Week..’- 18-Year-Old American Coco Gauff’s Devastating Take on a Disappointing Outing at WTA Finals 2022

Further, apart from that, this season she marked her name on the five-time Grand Slam champion’s record of the youngest player to fight for a Majors title as well. The American made up to the finals of the French Open, but unfortunately, unlike Sharapova, who defeated Serena Williams in the finals of 2004 Wimbledon, she failed to secure the title.

Gauff’s noteworthy run this season

Gauff’s year took a slow start and caught pace in the clay court season. She, with a quarterfinal run from the Qatar Open, marked under her name, entered the Germany-based Stuttgart Open and after an opening round defeat there played till the round of 16 of WTA 1000 events in Madrid and Rome.

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After that, without dropping any set, she claimed a position in the final two of the French Open. The tournament gave initial round dismissal to players like Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep. Then, making a grand entrance in the grass swing, she reached the semifinals of the Berlin-based WTA 500 event. However, in the Grand Slam, she got limited to the quarterfinals only. Following that, in the American swing, she again secured an array of quarterfinals runs.