Gauff confesses what Alcaraz told her after watching her train: "He made me feel better"

Fernando Murciego - 7 Nov 2026 | 13:30
WTA WTA Finals 2026 Cori Gauff Rueda de prensa

The American returns to the tournament she conquered two seasons ago, although the venue or her current form has nothing to do with it. Without her name being heavily mentioned in the predictions, Gauff arrives ready to make a surprise.

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Gauff confesses what Alcaraz told her after watching her train: "He made me feel better." Source: Getty

The feeling that she has been with us for half a lifetime should not make us take it for granted. Cori Gauff is 22 years old and this week she will face her fifth WTA Finals as a professional, a journey that demonstrates two things: how good she is and how consistent she has shown herself to be since she entered the elite.

However, 2026 may not be the season that makes her feel most proud, no matter how much she has finished within the group of the top eight. Just one title (Cincinnati) on her record sounds very poor for a contender to conquer Grand Slam tournaments, but if there is something Gauff is good at, it is holding her ground when the wind blows against her. A grey season that she could add some color to by performing well these days in Indian Wells.

Five consecutive years among the best

“I’m very excited to be back at the WTA Finals, especially to play here in Indian Wells, a familiar place that players really enjoy. I’m happy to return and hope to have a good tournament. Normally, I’m someone who is more focused on what comes next, but qualifying five times in a row is something to be proud of. I have been among the top eight in the world for quite some time. Sometimes, when you are in the middle of all this, you don’t realize how important it is. There are moments when you look at the pictures and think: ‘Wow, I’m here’. I grew up watching this tournament.”

Halloween and the focus on 2027

“It has been great; it was my first Halloween at home since I started playing the WTA Finals five years ago. It was nice to be able to go out in my costumes and not just limit myself to taking pictures with them. I have combined rest and training. For a while, I treated it as if it were the preseason and then as a small preparation for competition. After this, I have the Billie Jean King Cup, then Thanksgiving, and soon another preseason will start. I’m trying to arrive fresh for 2027.”

Coco Gauff and her fun connection with Alcaraz

“I tried to copy the exercise that Carlos does; at first, I didn’t like it at all because I kept hitting the post. Then I started to like it, and I even talked a bit with Carlos, and he said he also missed a lot at the beginning. That made me feel better (laughs). My team told me: ‘If Carlos can do it, you can too’. And I thought: ‘He is Carlos, and I am me’. He doesn’t publish his mistakes! (laughs).”

A purple car as motivation

“The car looked really good; my favorite color is purple, so I’m definitely going to work even harder to try to win it. It’s great to be an ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and to be able to compete for a prize like that.”

A duel against Pegula that is increasingly mental

“When you have played so many times against someone, everything becomes much more complicated. We know each other’s games, and tennis is already a very mental sport. When you face the same rival repeatedly, it becomes even more so because we both try to break away from our own patterns, knowing that the other knows them.”

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Gauff confiesa qué le dijo Alcaraz después de verla entrenar: "Me hizo sentir mejor"