Coco Gauff has expressed a desire to be known for her game rather than her achievements as a teenager. The American stated that it is “annoying” when her age is constantly under the spotlight.
Coco Gauff ended 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva’s dream debut run at the 2023 French Open with a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1 victory to advance to the fourth round of the Clay Slam.
The World No. 6 emerged victorious in three sets in the all-teen encounter between the two youngest players left in the French Open draw in two hours and three minutes.
Gauff, the 2022 French Open finalist, advanced to the second week of the Clay Slam for the third consecutive year. The 19-year-old had to dig deep after losing the first set, which lasted 65 minutes in the tie-break. She came back all guns blazing and dropped only two games to take the next two sets.
In the post-match conference, Gauff was asked whether she thought the media and analysts focused too much on young players’ ages. The 19-year-old responded in the affirmative and admitted it gets a bit annoying. The American revealed that, at a young age, she wanted to be known just for her game and not her stats.
“Age is important to mention sometimes, but as a player and going through it, yes, it gets a little bit annoying. Because I feel like I’m the type of person I don’t need to be praised because of my age or anything. I prefer just to be praised because of my game, not because of things I’m doing at whatever age,” said Gauff.
The World No. 6 also revealed a bizarre statistic she read about herself recently.
“I remember I saw a stat the other day, and they were, like, I have the most bagels by a teenager on tour,” she said. “It’s cool, but I feel like some of these stats, I don’t know, y’all be finding the smallest details. I’m like who keeps track of this stuff?” she added.
