Raducanu, Gauff talk Indian Wells debuts, coaching and social media

Coco Gauff may have been on tour for a couple of years longer than freshly crowned US Open champion Emma Raducanu, but she doesn't feel as though she has any advice to offer her fellow teenager.

"I mean, she has a Slam and I don't!" said Gauff, laughing, during press ahead of the BNP Paribas Open. "If anything, I should be asking her."

Off court, Gauff does have some useful guidance when it comes to social media.

"The best thing I could [say], and I'm sure she's probably heard it, is to set time aside from the phone," Gauff said.

"Because it is exciting when you get all the retweets, all the follows and all of that, but it can be a bit overwhelming. At least in my experience. That's probably what I wish I would've known, not to focus on social media."

In order to do that, Gauff has turned to technology.

"I put a time limit on my phone because I thought I was spending too much time on it," she said. "From 8.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. I have limited access to apps."

This proved so effective that the 17-year-old didn't even notice this week's widespread multi-app outage.

Gauff says she treats the ugly side of online life - comments from angry gamblers - as a joke, but also pointed out that apps are able to control it.

"For me, the best app when I've got a match is TikTok if I want to get my mind off stuff," she said. "The bettors haven't got there yet! But also, I feel TikTok does a great job of filtering their comments and deleting inappropriate comments automatically. So it's an app thing too."

For her part, Raducanu is finding it easy to shrug off the world's attention.

"It felt nice to receive the support, everyone's nice messages and kind words, but I didn't get too caught up in it," she told press.

The past three weeks have been a media whirlwind for the 18-year-old Briton, who became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam at the US Open a month ago. Raducanu has been a guest at the Met Gala, had a hit with the Duchess of Cambridge and taken part in a plethora of interviews.

But she has managed to stay grounded. On returning home to London, Raducanu mostly stayed home instead of taking up the many event invitations she received.

"I just focused on my tennis and my training," she said.

And her most treasured memory of the past month isn't the glitz of celebrity or royalty, but the time she spent with those closest to her.

"The highlight for me is still, and always will be, the night I won and we went back to the hotel," she said. "Just me and the team having a really nice meal, chatting and reflecting on the past three weeks. All of the invitations were very cool, but that's what's going to stick in my mind."

An unresolved training question for Raducanu is that of a new coach. She is working with the LTA's Jeremy Bates in Indian Wells before choosing a full-time appointment - not that she's in any hurry to do that.

"I'm not going to rush into anything," she said. "At the moment I'm confident [by myself]. Even though I'm quite young, I've got a lot of experience banked - and at the end of the day you're out there on your own, and you have to be your own coach on the court. So I'm pretty comfortable. I'm just looking for the general things in a coach - someone you get along with well, someone who can push you."

In the meantime, both Gauff and Raducanu are both feeling out the conditions at a tournament neither of them have played before. Gauff, of course, was due to make her Indian Wells debut in 2020 before the tournament became the first cancellation of the Covid shutdown.

"I'm liking the conditions here, even if it's a bit hot," she said. "I'm from Florida, so I'm used to it. But it's more dry heat than humidity, so I'm still adjusting to that. I like the speed of the courts, and the grounds are super-nice."

The heat is also Raducanu's prime takeaway so far.

"The air is very dry, so it's going to be tough physically, and it's quite hot at the moment," she said. "The courts are slower and high-bouncing, so it's probably going to be long rallies. The balls get fluffy quite easily, so I'm sure it's going to be physical in all the matches. It's a matter of trying to get in as best shape as possible and keep fit and healthy."