MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 23, 2023

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/R. Marino

6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Coco, can you just talk about the match and your overall thoughts on your performance.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, today it was an up-and-down match honestly. A lot of breaks. I mean, I did well in the returning part, considering she's a big server.

I'm really happy with how I played. She's not an easy opponent. She makes a lot of big shots, doesn't really give you a lot of rhythm. You kind of just have to hang in there, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Four years ago you won your first match. Are you surprised how much you've achieved in such a short amount of time?

COCO GAUFF: I feel like yes and no. I feel like in a way, I don't know, like I approach every match believing I can win. In that aspect, like, no. Definitely if I take a step back and look at it as a whole, yes.

It's a difficult question for me because I feel like I've worked really hard. So when these things happen, when I win these matches, I definitely feel like I deserve it.

But also anybody who knows me knows I'm always wanting more. In a way, like, I'm not satisfied. Sometimes I don't look at it as a great achievement, so yeah.

Q. Did Jimmy Butler give you a discount on coffee?

COCO GAUFF: He did not give me a discount on his coffee. I saw on TikTok the prices of his coffee was, like, a debate (laughter). He did not give me a discount.

I know there was a little girl who asked for, like, a discount. Her name is Jazz (phonetic). She's an interviewer. I think he said no, so I didn't want to ask him about his discount.

He had unbraided his hair in the middle of a game. I didn't ask him that. Maybe I shouldn't ask him the first time. If I see him again, I'm going to ask him why he took his hair out in the middle of a game (laughter).

Q. How did 'Homecoming' come about? That was about racial profiling. Did you memorize your lines? Talk about the whole process.

COCO GAUFF: That process was nothing like I imagined. We were there from, like, 5 in the morning till like 8 at night. I didn't realize how many times you had to do each scene over and over.

Especially like the first scene in the show, which is technically the last scene we shot, I look so dead and tired because I was tired. They do a really good job.

She was like, Oh, my gosh, it's Coco Gauff.

I'm just sitting there like, Yeah, we've done this like 20 times, I've already met you like 30 hours ago (laughter). So, yeah.

But I think they reached out and my agent helped set it up. There's tennis incorporated in the show. It was quite interesting. They wrote me in not in a tennis way. I think the way the script was completely fits with how I am off the court, so that's why I was willing to do it.

It was almost better. I know the first time we were supposed to film, I was supposed to be playing tennis. But I qualified for WTA Finals so we had to scratch that and then do this episode. It was really cool.

The cast, really nice people. Geffri, Camille, all people that I would do it against just to meet them all over again.

I don't know if I would do it again for the acting part. Watching myself on TV was probably the most excruciating pain I ever had to experience. I hated it (laughter). My mom has a video of me. I was on the floor like this.

Q. (No microphone.)

COCO GAUFF: Just my whole family watched. My brother, he said it was a 3 out of 10. I rated it a 2 out of the 10. My mom and dad and other brother gave me a good rating.

Q. In terms of Jimmy Butler, you love the sports here in south Florida. What comes to mind when you're playing on stadium court in front of him?

COCO GAUFF: I don't know. I just feel like you walk on the court, it's just like crazy because, A, I've watched games here all throughout my life.

Well, when I saw Jimmy Butler, I mean, he was right next to my towels. I had no choice but to see him. It was really cool because I love watching the Heat, they're my team. He has just, like, that mentality, that dog in him, something that I really admire a lot.

Yeah, I always do that when I'm on the court, but I was, like, I hope he sees that in me. Yeah, also I met a couple of NFL players, too, that played for the Bills. They might have been here for Jazz, but I'm glad they stayed to watch my match.

I don't know, today honestly I think was a really good day, not because of the win, but I just feel like having the privilege of those people watching me. Other sports, I think means more than maybe an actor or singer watching me because it's like, as an athlete, finding the time to appreciate other sports is really hard. For them to want to do that, especially for a sport like tennis which generally most of them don't understand, is really cool.

Q. How important is it for you to hear the ball striking an opponent's strings for the way you want to play your shot? I ask that because Frances...

COCO GAUFF: I saw what he said.

Q. How do you feel about that?

COCO GAUFF: I will say I did an exhibition with Ash Barty actually. We did have some music playing for part of the exhibition. It definitely does affect I guess the way you track the ball and the sound of it, for sure.

I don't know if we'll be able to do, like, full music. I've always said tennis doesn't need to be completely silent. Also growing up, I played at Pompey Park. They would always have baseball games, basketball practice, swimming. It was so loud over there.

My dad was like, I never want to hear you complain about noise during a match. This is when I was like eight or nine.

I'm not the particular player that's going to complain about noise. I definitely think it affects the tracking of the ball, so I'm not going to say that. Maybe a little bit of noise, I would welcome it. I don't know if we could do like full blasting music.

It's quite interesting what Frances said. I definitely think it would be more enjoyable for the fans, especially in the stadium, but I don't know how players would be able to do that.

Q. What about people getting up and moving around, the noise aspect to one side, but the movement?

COCO GAUFF: The movement I think is definitely doable for me. For me personally, it doesn't bother me. I think with the flags, depending on the colors, that would be tough. I never really mind if someone's walking around or anything, if that makes sense.

Sometimes if I do say something, it's maybe just to slow the pace of the match down, but not because the person is actually standing. I'm going to be honest, sometimes you just need a reset.

I think the movement is more doable than the noise, for sure.

Q. Is there anything from your last match against Potapova that you remember that you're going to have in mind in your next match?

COCO GAUFF: The last time I think I played her was Montreal. I'm pretty sure she retired in that match. I don't really count that because she wasn't fully 100%.

I don't remember what the score was, but it was pretty smooth. I could tell she wasn't 100%. I don't think I can really take anything from that into Saturday's match.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your signature shoe, the CG1s. What made you want to go into footwear specifically?

COCO GAUFF: I think especially in tennis, not that many people have done it. There's very few tennis players with their own sig.

New Balance, honestly, brought it to me. Obviously I'm down for it if someone wants to give me my own shoe. It was really cool. I didn't want it to look like a tennis shoe. I wanted to have, like, a little bit of a basketball court feel. I mean, I couldn't do the high tops. That would have been too hard to play with. So the mid was something I could do.

Honestly, I love them. I'm not saying that because it's my shoe, because honestly I was a big hater when the first prototype came out. They worked really well with me. The footwork team that New Balance has is incredible. They were able to make those changes. They're always constantly trying to evolve.

I don't know, yeah, it's pretty cool.

Q. You're the only active tennis player with her own shoe. How does that make you feel?

COCO GAUFF: Very privileged. I mean, I don't know, I feel like a lot of athletes on this tour definitely deserve it, so I feel very privileged that New Balance is giving me this opportunity, and I'm very appreciative of that.

I don't know if maybe another brand would have done that, especially as much impact from me. Everything that I wear on the court, everything pretty much I get from them, I've probably seen, like, a year in advance and have basically picked out every detail that I didn't like. I'm very happy that they're so welcoming in what I want.

A lot of brands aren't always like that with all their athletes. I'm grateful I'm able to do that. Most of the time people like that feedback. Obviously they like the feedback, but people who buy the product can kind of tell when a player puts their all into something. I think that's what makes it special with me and the relationship I have with New Balance.

Q. Did you end up going to the WBC Championship game?

COCO GAUFF: I did.

Q. Was that the nightmare scenario for you, bottom of the ninth with Shohei?

COCO GAUFF: The thing with Shohei, he is a New Balance athlete. I couldn't root against my country. Even my New Balance rep was there. He was like, That's New Balance.

I'm like, I'm sorry.

If this is like Marlins and the Angels, okay. USA versus Japan...

I would say having trout and Shohei at a full count, that was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I've never seen the Marlins stadium so packed. I was definitely happy it was Shohei closing the game. If it was another pitcher, I wouldn't have been as happy that we lost.

It was a really good game. Just the experience in general. I'm going to be honest, I didn't want to go. Not a huge baseball fan. But I'm glad that I went. My brothers had a really good time despite the loss.

Thank you.