C. GAUFF/K. Day
6-2, 7-5
THE MODERATOR: Coco, congrats on the win, into the next round. Obviously it's never easy switching surfaces. Can you just give us your thoughts on the match, and how you dealt with the different conditions today.
COCO GAUFF: Yeah, it was honestly kind of a tricky match playing a lefty. Yeah, glad I was able to get through. I can work on closing that out maybe a bit sooner, so that's the only thing I guess I can critique myself right now.
THE MODERATOR: First question?
Q. You made a lot of strides with your serve in the clay and the grass season. Maybe you didn't serve as well as you may have wanted to today. Do you feel like it was just a little bit more about the rust of having not played since Wimbledon, or maybe also the first match jitters, or do you feel like it's still just some other things you want to work on with your serve?
COCO GAUFF: I feel like a lot of the doubles came towards the end. Towards the end I wasn't physically feeling my best. I think that was the main reason.
Yeah, I don't know. It is getting better, so I'm definitely proud of the progress that's been made so far. Like I said, definitely working on closing out those matches, and especially when I'm serving for it.
Q. There was a point in the second set, you're serving 4-2, and you lunged to then hit a forehand that somehow landed in. Defense is one of your strengths, but I'm curious, do you ever surprise yourself with how well your defense can be, and how has your defense continued to evolve?
COCO GAUFF: Yeah, that was a lucky shot, for sure (laughing). Yeah, I think it was just a lucky shot. I was kind of leaning toward the other way, and then the last second she, or, I changed my mind and she went there.
I definitely think, I guess that shot was lucky, but I do tend to win a lot of these weird points, so maybe it's not always so lucky. But it definitely makes a difference, I feel like, putting one more ball in.
It's a skill that I'm definitely continuing to hone. Obviously I'm trying to play more aggressively and not always rely on it. But I think at that point I had no other choice but to do that.
Q. The WTA recently said it's going to give gender tests to the players on tour. What's your impression of that, what do you feel about it, and what did the WTA do to prepare you guys for what's to come on that?
COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I mean, as far as, I guess, with that, I know it's been something that's been talked about awhile. But I've talked to a couple other players, and a lot of them didn't find out until the press release. So I do think that's something that could have been more transparent amongst like players along across the tour.
As far as that, I mean, I understand the reasoning behind it. I do think that this kind of conversation has created a lot of animosity towards the trans community, which I'm not really a big fan of, but I also understand the need to, I guess, the biological difference and the need to protect that and preserve that.
So I think it's a conversation that is very nuanced. And it creates, causes, or I need to have a nuanced answer.
So, yes, I guess I kind of agree with trying to protect the fairness in women's sports.
But I also do not like the attack that it is creating. People who don't really care, but just want to use this as a reason to attack the trans community. So I'm not really a big fan of that either.
So I don't really know how to answer really this question in a way that people aren't going to spin it.
But as far as where I stand, I definitely support the trans community, but I also support the need of creating fairness in sport too.
Q. You practiced with a young Canadian, Kayla Cross, yesterday. Wondering what stood out about her. And she said she was really nervous to be out there with you, and I'm wondering if you have any memories of being nervous on the practice court while you were coming up.
COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I definitely do. I practiced with Naomi when I was super young. I remember being nervous for that.
First time I practiced with Serena I was incredibly nervous.
I definitely can understand the positioning. But I wouldn't be nervous to practice with me, honestly.
She was super great to practice with. She prepared me really well for today. I think that was the right decision. Honestly, I was looking for a lefty. I signed up as looking, and I'm glad that she signed with me.
Yeah, I think she has a lot of great potential. She has a really good serve and forehand. It looks like she likes to get into the net sometimes and close in.
I think she has a promising future ahead of her. I saw she won her first match. Had a tough one today against Ann. But, yeah, I think she's a great player.
Q. After the Washington final, Jessica Pegula commented about the way Alex Eala is bringing in all these new fans and this Filipino community. I was wondering what you've made of that, and what that can mean for women's tennis.
COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think I said this before, I'll say it again: I think the demographic that Alex is bringing to the sport of tennis is so great. I think all of us should really embrace that, because we're all benefiting from it.
I don't know, I think when I played her in, where was it, Dubai, and it was such a great atmosphere to play in, in front of that.
Just to see a nation of people who maybe don't always feel represented in this sport really see themselves out there, I think it's incredibly inspiring and makes it fun for me to go out there and just play.
I honestly gained some fans from her community off that match, which I think was cool.
I know Alex personally, and what you guys see on the court is what we see off the court. I'm always going to be supporting her, and it was great to see her win in DC.
Q. You mentioned earlier not feeling the best physically towards the end of the match. Can you speak to what was going on, and then how are you feeling now.
COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think I had, like, a hard training block in Florida. The goal is to peak at US Open, so I know maybe this first week I'm not going to be feeling like a hundred percent, because I did load like so much post Wimbledon.
But it's kind of the normal kind of way we approach these swings is the goal is to physically peak for the slam.
So just getting through this match, and I feel like by tomorrow I'll be good. I think it was just a long couple weeks for me of training.
Q. We all know you love TikTok and obviously social media. Curious, how do you balance that as being a public figure, and maybe you always can't control your For You page, so how do you navigate maybe coming across a TikTok that might be about you and things...
COCO GAUFF: You come on my For You page all the time (laughing). And I think that my brother might have commented something.
Q. Was it a good comment?
COCO GAUFF: No. But I told him that I like you so he deleted it. He's 13. At the time he was probably like 11 or 12 (laughing). And I saw Ben called you out too.
Q. Yeah. You're calling me out too.
COCO GAUFF: No, I like your content. I think you interviewed me in DC, like, what, three years ago, four years ago. Yeah, I like your content. Yeah, I listen to your tips and stuff.
Q. Thank you.
COCO GAUFF: Follow him, christianscourt. Okay, what was your question?
Q. The question was, like, how do you, like, navigate seeing maybe people, aside from me, who talk about you on social media, and things of that nature, being on it so frequently, maybe?
COCO GAUFF: Well, I see, like on Twitter I can see myself a lot. So I just, every time it's me, I just click not interested, not interested, not interested, and eventually the algorithm will not show something that you're not interested in.
So it's kind of the same on TikTok, that I kind of click not interested, not interested.
Sometimes I do like to see what people are saying, but maybe not while I'm competing actively in a tournament. So while I'm in the tournament I'm usually using that button. But when I'm not then, yeah, I'll see it come up.
But most of the things I feel like on TikTok are good videos. I don't really see people being rude to me on TikTok. It's Twitter that's the app that they don't like me over there sometimes. So I just usually don't go on Twitter.
But Instagram and TikTok, honestly, I see mostly good stuff about me. So I think it's always nice to see.
But, yeah, I like to see some critiques, too. Like, what are the outside people thinking. And sometimes you guys are right, so, yeah. And sometimes you guys are really wrong.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports