SYDNEY -- Coco Gauff grew up immersed in a world of sports, dabbling in myriad activities. With parents who were both standout collegiate athletes, it was almost inevitable. But when the time came to choose her path, tennis emerged as the ultimate winner in the Coco Gauff sweepstakes.
Gauff's interiority, singular drive and innate competitiveness made her a ideal fit for an individual sport. But there's little denying she also thrives in a team environment. The 20-year-old American is a doubles Grand Slam champion and former doubles No.1 for a reason. She loves competing alongside her friends, and the results at her opening event at the United Cup underlined that even more.
"Going down to the bench when you're down a break and hearing the cheers, hearing the belief, it's something you don't take for granted," Gauff said on the WTA Insider Podcast. "Today was tough because I felt like most of the crowd was Polish, so it was tough. But when I went to my bench I felt all the Americans so that was the key to todays' match, feeling supported at all times."
After finishing her 2024 season with titles at the China Open and WTA Finals Riyadh, Gauff went 5-0 at United Cup to help lead Team USA to its second title in three years. If you count the mixed-teams event, Gauff has now won three of her past four events. On Sunday, she delivered an impressive performance to put the top-seeded Americans within reach of victory, defeating her longtime rival Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-4. Swiatek had won 11 of their first 12 matches, with only one of those matches going three sets.
Gauff has not lost a set in their past two meetings.
"She has a great head start [in the head-to-head] so depending on how many more times we play, I don't know if I'll catch up," Gauff said. "But at this point, it doesn't feel like it's so heavily favored her way. Any day, I can step on the court and I can win, which maybe before I didn't believe that.
"I can't say that I'm going to beat her every time I play her now, but I also can't say that she's going to be me every time I play her now. But before I would say I definitely felt a little bit of defeat stepping on the court but now I don't. I know I have the ability to do it and it's just about what happens that day. It always comes down to a few points between us."
Listen to the full interview on the WTA Insider Podcast below:
How good was Gauff in Sydney? When asked to rate her performance out of 10, Gauff gave herself high marks, a surprising admission from a player who is notoriously hard on herself.
"Off the ground today I felt really good, like a 9 or 10," Gauff told reporters. "In my last matches, not that great. I think I can get a little bit more aggressive. Today I was definitely aggressive on both wings. I did return well. In the previous matches I would say I could be more aggressive, but today I did that, so I'm coming out and being aggressive.
"I had to run. Obviously when you play Iga, you have to run, but obviously I'm not only going to be doing that today."
Gauff's physical effort and ability to come back from a break down in the second against Swiatek might explain her unorthodox celebration. On match point, Gauff turned to the U.S. bench and made a shoveling motion with her racquet. It was an inside joke started by teammate Denis Kudla, who was playing his final tournament before retiring. To commemorate the moment, Kudla plans on getting a shovel tattooed on his leg.
"I think it started in my match against China," Gauff said. "I was playing Shuai, and she was playing really great tennis. He was, like, great digging, keep digging. Then the shovel celebration came from him. I just took it and ran with it. That was the theme of the week for me.
"I knew how important it was to get that 1-0 start. I just dug deep and got that win. I got the shovel out."
Gauff now heads to Melbourne with the wind firmly at her back. Last year, she reached her first Australian Open semifinal without losing a set, bowing out to eventual champion and now No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
"Honestly, before every Grand Slam, I have the belief that I can win, and especially after US Open, I proved that I could do it," Gauff said. "I definitely have belief that I can win.
"Obviously this start of the season gives me a lot of confidence. I feel like when I'm playing confident tennis I'm playing great tennis. I definitely feel confident going into AO."
