Coco Gauff’s priorities: “I put tennis after God, family and friends”

The start of the season was very positive overall for Coco Gauff, winner at the ASB Classic and semi-finalist at the Australian Open. In Melbourne, despite some ups and downs, she only surrendered in the semifinal to Aryna Sabalenka, who later won the tournament.

At the press conference before the Qatar Open tournament in Doha, the young American star revealed what are the most important things in her life, placing tennis in 4th place in this special ranking.

Coco then talked about her come back to Doha and the improvements she has made in recent months.

“I am very happy to return to Doha, in doubles I have done really well here in recent years but I hope that this year I can also say the same for singles. This year I won’t play doubles but I really want to do well here in the Middle East.”

Coco Gauff© Phil Walter / Staff Getty Images Sport

“I have other priorities. Tennis is in third or fourth place”

Gauff also talked about problems outside of tennis.

“For me it’s very important as a tennis player to talk about real problems in real life. Tennis is in third or fourth place, I have other priorities. I put God first, then family and friends and then tennis and the community around us in general. These things come before tennis and it is important to comment on everything that happens to give a voice to those who have none.

Doha? When I play in places where there are minorities I am happy, I feel a bond of hope. Everyone has their own struggles in this world, depending on their race or background. We hope these things help us connect and help us understand why we are different from everyone else.

When I see the audience here I feel that they connect with me and they always welcome me. The circuit doesn’t revolve around Americans so I can’t complain about the long flights. It would be great to play just in the United States but especially since I’m young I can’t complain. I’m young and even when I’m in Europe I feel great, the same goes for Australia too,” she explained.

Coco talked about her performance and the contribution of her coach Brad Gilbert: “Brad is here, he will participate in most of the tournaments but not all. In Australia we focused on service and being continuous, then it didn’t take long. You can’t change much after ten days of training. Rating so far? There are people who have never reached the Slam semi-finals and so I can’t complain, I’m on the right path to winning another Slam and I work tirelessly to improve myself.”