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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 22: Coco Gauff attends the Citi Taste Of Tennis on August 22, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for AYS Sports Marketing)

via Getty
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 22: Coco Gauff attends the Citi Taste Of Tennis on August 22, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for AYS Sports Marketing)
American tennis prodigy Coco Gauff has experienced different emotions in her short career. The 18-year-old rose to fame when she defeated Venus Williams in her first appearance at the Wimbledon Championships in 2019. However, the phase that followed was not so good for the American rising star.
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Gauff lost a few matches and a still very young girl was not ready to handle the mental pressure. Further, unlike other high school kids, she was not able to live a normal life. This, at times, saddened her. Here’s what Gauff once said about that phase.
When Gauff missed normal life
After achieving success at a very young age, Gauff had to sacrifice her normal life. As a tennis player, she had a completely different routine that her friends at school. She had normal friends who went to high school and enjoyed their life. This, at times, saddened the young tennis star. Here’s what she said in 2020.

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PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 02: Coco Gauff of United States gives a media interview after winning match point against Martina Trevisan of Italy during the Women’s Singles Semi Final on day 12 at Roland Garros on June 02, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images)
“At times, I found myself too busy comparing myself to others. Most of my friends go to normal high school. I felt like they always seemed so happy being ‘normal’. For a while, I thought I wanted that.”
She further added, “Then I realized that just like social media, everyone isn’t as happy as what you see in their posts. It took me about a year to get over that idea. Again, my results were still okay, so this didn’t have much to do with tennis. I just wasn’t happy playing, anyway. I do spend a lot of time at home alone. It is challenging to do school alone while you can’t socialize with other students.”
Read more: ‘I’m Not Delusional’- Coco Gauff Says She Understands She’s Not Capable of ‘Changing the World’
With success comes sacrifices. Gauff was very young to understand that what she was facing at that time will shape her future.
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Jimmy Connors slammed Coco Gauff for her poor showing in the WTA Finals
Former American tennis star Jimmy Connors was not happy with the way the American duo of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula fared in the WTA Finals. The year-end event was in the US this time and the fans had a lot of expectations for the local favorites, Gauff and Pegula.
Both Gauff and Pegula competed in doubles and singles. Gauff had a very disappointing end to a brilliant year. She lost all three of her group stage matches in straight sets. Commenting on their performances, Connors straight away rejected the idea of them being tired after a long season. The American reminded Gauff and Pegula of their responsibilities and also suggested they should not play in a tournament if they were tired.
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Even though Gauff had a rough end to her season, we can’t deny that she did amazingly well overall in the season. It will be interesting to see how she bounces back after the tough end to an otherwise brilliant season.
Watch this story: Hilarious Meaning of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Serena Williams on Urban Dictionary!
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