Tennis - Wimbledon 2024 - Coco Gauff : "Fans of the game are a little bit disrespectful with..."
Beaten by her compatriot Emma Navarro in the Round of 8 at Wimbledon, world No.2 Coco Gauff told a press conference after her defeat that the very high overall standard explains the surprises and defeats of some of the world's best players.
Video : @Wimbledon
Video : @Wimbledon
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00:00Okay, tough, tough loss today. Just give us your thoughts on that match.
00:06Yeah, it was a tough match. She played well. And, yeah, I think she played great tennis.
00:12And, you know, there was moments in the first set that I had chances to capitalise on the break.
00:17But, yeah, tough match.
00:22What do you think she did so well today to get the win?
00:26I thought she did well staying on the baseline, which I know how she plays just from playing her before.
00:33But she really did well in timing my hard balls to her, which isn't easy to do on grass.
00:39And I think also she hit a lot of, like, I think extra balls back, like slices, mixing it up.
00:47So, overall, I think she played well. And I think she returned well today, especially on my second serve.
00:54Ava Wallace, The Washington Post. Coco, we could see you kind of talking back and forth with your box.
00:58What about your game plan? If that's what it was, were you unsatisfied with her? Do you feel like it wasn't working?
01:04Yeah, I think we had a game plan going in and I felt that it wasn't working.
01:08So and I don't always ask for advice on the box.
01:13But today was one of those moments where I felt like I didn't have solutions.
01:17And I don't want to say I didn't have any because I think I'm a capable player of coming up with some.
01:23But I think today with mentally, I think I was just was a lot going on and I felt like I wanted more direction from the box.
01:33Is that dynamic of wanting more direction, has that happened before or is it something you guys have talked about?
01:40And, you know, just how do you foresee sort of working that out over the next few weeks?
01:46Yeah, I think it's it's happened before. And usually I mean, I wouldn't say it's happened before with maybe the combination of JC and Brad.
01:56But it's happened before in the past where I felt like I needed more direction and they usually give me something.
02:04I felt as today, I don't think we were all in sync, but it's no one's blame except myself.
02:13I mean, I'm the player out there. I have to make decisions for myself on the court.
02:20What frustrated you most about yourself and what frustrated you most about what Emma was doing?
02:26Myself, I think I went away from the things that I like to do.
02:31I think I went away from that. And what she was doing, she's playing well.
02:36I mean, I don't she's coming after her. I would say that's probably one of the better matches she's played this year.
02:44And it's kudos to her. I knew she was going to play well.
02:47And I think I have the ability to raise my level when players play well.
02:51And I felt like I didn't do that today.
02:55In your last two matches, I did notice that your forehand did actually improve a lot.
03:01I wanted to know how did you manage to actually improve it so quickly from the season and the last couple of matches to the last two matches?
03:09Just a lot of practice. And I do think that the last couple of matches has been better than it has in the past compared to maybe Australia and Open this year to now.
03:23And I think I have a lot of work to do on on it on both on honestly, both my point and back.
03:28And I think this tournament, I feel like it could have been better on both sides when it came to those low balls like slice short slices that you get on grass.
03:39But I am happy with the progress. Obviously, I know if I want to get further, not only in this tournament, but in future tournaments, it's something that I have to continue to work on.
03:52How much did the fact that you were one of the few remaining top seeds left play on your mind today?
03:57I know that's not very unusual in women's tennis, but did that add any pressure or anything like that?
04:04Not really, because I've seen and played so many slams where anybody can win and the seed is just a number and just an advantage.
04:14You don't play another seed first round, but it doesn't mean you can't lose.
04:19If we've seen a lot of seeds drop out, we've seen, you know, defending champions drop out.
04:25It means nothing. And I think especially on my side of the draw, there's even though the players may be not known, but they're so talented.
04:36And I think that's something that people fans of the game, I think, are a little bit disrespectful when it comes to other players on tour.
04:46Maybe the ranking isn't there, but the level is there and they're here for a reason.
04:51They deserve their spot and there's no easy draw. There's no cakewalk or anything.
04:55This is competitive sport and we all want to win.
04:58I've been there where I was ranked whatever and unknown.
05:01And it would be disrespectful for another player to be like, yeah, this girl is ranked whatever and she's this age.
05:07I should be able to win. And that's not the case. So I don't take my seed into account when it comes to anything.
05:12I take every match with a very competitive mindset, regardless of the ranking or the person I'm playing against.
05:19You've got doubles tomorrow. What is your process in terms of sort of looking back on what didn't go as well as you wanted it to go in singles
05:30and sort of getting over that at the same time competing with Jessica in the doubles game for the Olympics?
05:36How do those two sort of things work on parallel tracks?
05:41I mean, honestly, my mind is on the Olympics and especially in doubles.
05:46Now, I wouldn't say I'm looking at the Olympics, but I'm looking at us as a team,
05:50how we can improve to be a good contender for a medal in the Olympics because we haven't played that much this year.
05:59I mean, I'm still going to look at this match.
06:01I have to look at it if I want to improve not only for the Olympics, but also for the rest of the season and seasons beyond.
06:08So I think I'll maybe not watch it until after the tournament's over just for the mind.
06:14But I definitely would say that I have to learn from today because it's not going to be the first
06:20or last time that a player plays a great match against me.
06:23And I have to figure out when those moments happen, how to raise my level.
06:29You talked about the depth in the women's game. Do you think it's as deep as it's ever been?
06:35Well, I don't want to say that just because I didn't really watch like years and years ago.
06:44But I will say when being on tour till now, I do think that the depth is there.
06:51And I feel like when I look at the past champions of this tournament, you'll see people winning like three,
06:57four times in a row if you're Martina, a couple more than that.
07:02So I do think when you see seven different champions, I think, or seven or six different champions in the past few years,
07:08I think that just shows that there's so much depth in the game. And I think it's great.
07:13I think it makes the sport entertaining. I think there again, there's no easy matches.
07:18I think in the past you would almost look at a player and say, yes, she's guaranteed spot quarterfinal and pass maybe decades ago.
07:27But you can't really say that now. And I think that that's great.
07:30And I think it pushes me as a player to want to be better.