"It's great to see other girls my age on the tour, at first it was very difficult to have friends"

Fernando Murciego | 6 May 2025 | 20.00

Coco Gauff at the WTA 1000 Rome 2025 Media Day. Source: Getty

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She made it to the quarterfinals in Stuttgart, reached the final in Madrid, what will destiny have in store for her in this WTA 1000 in Rome? It is the next stop on Coco Gauff's journey through this European clay court tour that she enjoys so much. It feels strange to look at the history and not find an American fighting here for the title since 2016, when Serena Williams and Madison Keys faced off in the last round. Will this streak be broken in twelve days? Certainly, she is the one who has a certain advantage over the rest, although Swiatek, Sabalenka, or Rybakina will not make it easy for her. This is how her Media Day is going this morning.

WELCOME TO ROME

"I am super happy to be back in Rome, excited, I hope to capitalize on these days and have a better tournament than I did in Madrid. My parents were with me in Madrid, that helped in some way, it is fundamental for me to connect with people. I love being in Europe, unlike the rest of the Americans, it's not a burden for me. Obviously, everything is more fun when you are winning as opposed to losing, delving into tournaments helps to not lose motivation, to not be stuck waiting for something."

JOURNEY IN MADRID

"I was struggling at some points, I think a tough first round boosted my confidence. She was playing well, her ranking didn't show her true level, we all know that Dayana can go against any of the top five in the world, that's how I feel when I face her. After that match, everything was quite calm until the final, I learned that one match doesn't define a tournament, so now I approach each match with a different perspective, with a new mindset."

RELATIONSHIP WITH TYRA GRANT

"I don't know her very well, we've only spoken a couple of times, but on a personal level, I don't know her. Obviously, she has a lot of potential, although I never saw her play, I only found out about the results she was getting in juniors. Now I will, taking advantage of being at the same level, we will probably play against each other later on. I knew she was Italian, that she was proud of it, has been speaking the language well for a while, so it doesn't surprise me. I also love being American."

RISE OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION

"From a competitive perspective, it doesn't matter to me. When I was younger, I never cared about my age or other factors like that. Personally, it's great to have people my age on the circuit. I have always said that I found it hard to make friends on the tour when I first arrived because I was much younger than the rest, only 15 years old. There weren't other girls aged 15-16 playing these tournaments, the closest one maybe was Iga and she was 19-20. Now I have more peers, and that makes a difference, I see that I am in a different place, I can have more conversations and connect. I'm not saying the older ones weren't nice to me, they were, but it's just different, they were talking about getting married or planning their lives."

HER FAITH IN GOD

"For me, it's very important, I repeat it at every trophy ceremony. I'm not trying to force anyone to believe in anything, I just share my beliefs with people who also believe. Right now, we are at a point where people criticize you for saying anything, whether about religion or sexuality, but there's a lot of censorship. Everyone should be able to do what we want as long as it doesn't harm others. It's important for me to share it, for other people to see what helps me, that maybe it could help them too."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, “Es genial ver a otras chicas de mi edad en el tour, al principio fue muy difícil tener amigas”

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