By Karolos Grohmann
PARIS (Reuters) – Teenager Coco Gauff will not be swept up by the emotion of reaching her first ever Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open on Tuesday, with the weight of expectation having been a burden rather than a motivation in the past.
The talented 18-year-old beat fellow American Sloane Stephens in straight sets to reach the last four where she will face left-hander Martina Trevisan of Italy.
“I think it’s just another match, to be honest. I feel like last year I was looking at the finish line, and now I’m not looking at anything really except that ball in front of me,” Gauff, a quarter-finalist in Paris last year, said.
“So I think going into the next match I’m just going to approach it the same. I care about the results, yes, but also at the same time I don’t. Like if I gave it my all I am not going to be upset,” she told a news conference.
A few hours after clinching her singles semi-final spot, she also booked a place in the quarters of the women’s doubles with Jessica Pegula.
The busy schedule, however, will not affect her performance, having played as many as three matches a day during her junior career.
One thing she will not be carrying into the match from that time is the weight of expectation.
“I think ever since I joined the tour, or even when I was eight years old, (I was) the next Serena (Williams), next this, next that, and I think I really fell into the trap of believing that,” she said.
“It’s important that you have high hopes for yourself, but also, at the same time, it’s important to be in reality and I think that’s where I am. I’m in reality where I’m enjoying the moment and enjoying the situation.”
The world number 23 wrote ‘Dream Big’ on a camera after her victory, a message she said was about her need not to be put in a box.
“It’s something that I say all the time, just because you don’t want to let other people limit your dreams,” she said.
“I think it’s important that you don’t put yourself into a box. So I always try to tell young kids that, to dream big, and you never know when your moment is going to happen.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
