Coco Gauff experienced a major breakthrough in the 2023 season when she clinched her maiden Grand Slam title on her home turf. However, during the same season, there was a point when the American tennis prodigy realized that she was not ‘enjoying’ tennis, according to her recent revelations. Reminiscing about that challenging period, the reigning US Open champion recently opened up about how she came to a realization that changed her competitive journey.

In an interview with the Tennis Channel, Gauff revealed that she wasn’t enjoying playing tennis after her first-round defeat at the 2023 Wimbledon Championship. She said, “After I lost at Wimbledon, it was…I felt a lot of expectations from other people and I felt like it took me a while to really dig deep within myself and realize why I am not enjoying it so much, why it is harder for me to perform because I am playing for other people, and I realized that.”

It took the American player a lot of ‘self-searching’ to realize that she was not playing for herself but for others who had high expectations for her as she said, “And it took me a lot of self-searching because you can always say, ‘I play for myself, I play for myself.’ I realized that I’m not playing for myself.” It was that point when Gauff changed her mindset that took her to the top echelons of the racket game.

Coco Gauff on how her new ‘mindset’ changed her competitive journey

After a disappointing campaign at the Wimbledon Championship, the 20-year-old player opened up about how she started playing for herself and how her results ‘shot off’ from there. During the same conversation, Gauff said, “I realized that I just need to play for myself and figure out why I started this sport in the beginning and it’s just to make my goals come true. And yeah, I just basically my results shot off from there.”

As she had a major ‘realization’ in 2023, the young WTA sensation went on to win her first WTA 1000 title and also her first Grand Slam during that season. Even though it has been quite challenging to always keep up with that mindset, Gauff revealed that she is just looking at the ‘big picture.’ She said, “So I think that’s the mindset that I try to remember, and it’s hard to keep it all the time. Sometimes I do lose it, but overall, I feel like with this season, I’m so much happier, just playing and through the wins and the losses. Even though immediately after it sucks, but, you know, in the long run, I’m looking at the big picture and just enjoying it.”

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What do you think of the American tennis prodigy’s new ‘mindset’ that has helped her reach the top 3 rankings on the women’s tour? Let us know in the comments section.