Weeks After Hitting Back at Naysayers With US Open Glory, Coco Gauff Sheds Light on Her ‘Weird’ Driving Force as She Embraces in a Daunting Revelation – ‘Maybe I Feed From..’

Coco Gauff may be just 19 years old, but the American tennis sensation has already captured the world’s attention with her performances. After making it to a Grand Slam final last year, Gauff finally tasted success when she won the US Open title in September this year. It was a wonderful moment for her after putting in a lot of hard work earlier this season. Coming into the spotlight can have its share of good and bad. Ask Gauff, who has faced criticism from the masses along with praise. However, the 19-year-old has found a unique way to deal with such negativity.

Earlier this season, the American sensation was called out for making numerous changes to her coaching staff in the middle of the season. Additionally, she has had mixed reactions on social media from fans and critics. Here’s how she deals with negative comments on social media.

Coco Gauff reveals how she deals with negativity

The reigning US Open champion is in Beijing where she’s playing in the WTA 1000 China Open. During an interview at the tournament, she opened up about how she is not bogged down by negative comments, but instead, she uses them as inspiration.

Talking about it, she said, “I wouldn’t say negativity is something that’s welcome.. it’s more, something that I draw inspiration from. I wouldn’t recommend everybody to do that.”

Further, she also added, “Some of those comments can get out of hand. But for the most part, I don’t know, it’s weird, maybe I feed from negativity. That’s weird. A lot of players don’t like it. For me, I’m very stubborn. I like to argue. I like to prove people wrong. My agent & my team advise not to comment back, so I use my racquet to do it.”

This is not the first time Gauff has talked about dealing with negativity. Last year, she revealed taking inspiration from fellow WTA player to deal with such situations.

Gauff on having Naomi Osaka’s mindset

During the Miami Open last year, the World Number 3 revealed getting influenced by Osaka and having a mindset similar to her to deal with unideal circumstances. She said, “Yeah, I don’t really watch when my matches are commentated on all the time, and during tournaments I try not to like go on certain platforms that you know you’re probably going to see people say you can’t do this or that.”

DIVE DEEPER: Panic Takes Center Stage as US Open Champion Coco Gauff’s Return to Tennis at Beijing Open Comes With a Major Twist

Gauff is through to the second round of the China Open after a comfortable win over Ekaterina Alexandrova in the opening round. She next faces Petra Martic of Croatia. Can Gauff clinch back-to-back titles by winning the China Open? Let us know your views in the comments below.

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