American tennis star Coco Gauff had an impressive 2022 season on the WTA Tour. She performed consistently and reached the latter stages in most of the tournaments. However, the only thing her fans will regret is her performance in key matches.

After a good show, the American has failed to hold her nerves and cross the finishing line. It was something that was visible in the WTA Finals as well. While there has been constant noise regarding her performance, the 18-year-old has belief in herself. Recently, she spoke about a specific piece of advice from Michelle Obama that helped her in such situations.

Michelle Obama’s advice to Coco Gauff

Gauff achieved a great deal of success at a very young age. The 18-year-old is currently the world number seven in WTA rankings. While we question her performance against top players like Iga Swiatek, the 18-year-old believes it’s also important to remember how far she has come.

Recalling the advice from the former first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, Gauff said, “Michelle Obama, she told me it’s ok to say no to things. The piece of advice my younger self will give to me is, everything that you worked for happened, and remember what you prayed for then is happening to you now.”

She further added, “It’s important that I remember that my younger self will be grateful. You wanna push yourself, but you have to take a moment and accept it.”

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Gauff still has a long way to go. With the promise she has shown so early in her career, she will only get better from here.

Gauff had a disappointing run in the WTA Finals

Gauff earned her first qualification for the year-end WTA Finals after performing consistently this year. The world number four went into the tournament in Texas as one of the favorites. However, she had a very disappointing couple of weeks in the tournament.

Playing in the round-robin stage of the tournament, she lost all three of her matches. In her first match, she faced a straight-set defeat against Daria Kasatkina. Up next, she faced Caroline Garcia and again ended up handing her an easy straight-set win.

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In her last match of the tournament, world number 1 Iga Swiatek hammered her. After taking the first set 6-3, the Pole didn’t drop a game in her single set and finished the match 6-3, 6-0.