World number three Coco Gauff is hoping meditation and raucous cheering from her boys will unlock the secret to success at the French Open.
The American star beat Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in straight sets on Friday to reach the last 16 at Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive year.
U.S. Open champion Gauff, runner-up to Iga Swiatek in Paris in 2022, won an error-filled match 6-2, 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 20-year-old American will face unseeded Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Gauff led 5-2 in the second set but eventually won on her second match point after a hard-fought battle in which both players earned 22 break points and made a combined 62 unforced errors.
Gauff, the third seed who will face Swiatek in the quarterfinals, said meditation techniques help her put her title challenge in perspective.
“Sometimes I like to literally just lie down on the ground for a minute or two, or 10 or 15 minutes, and just meditate,” she said.
“I think it helps to keep your feet on the ground because the pressure can be so high in these tournaments. Sometimes you just have to lie down on the ground and think there are billions of people on this planet and billions of them don’t know you.”
“So the match isn’t as big as it sometimes feels.”
Gauff has been a crowd-pleaser since bursting onto Wimbledon as a 15-year-old in 2019, beating qualifying to reach the fourth round, beating former champion Venus Williams in the process.
In Paris, she is attracting attention from the boyish crowds where she has always stood out in previous matches at Court Suzanne Lenglen.
“There was a group of boys under 12 who were cheering really loudly, and I loved it,” Gauff said.
“And they treated my opponent with respect, which I’m happy to see.”
DJC
