PORSCHE TENNIS GRAND PRIX

April 17, 2025

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/E. Seidel

6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Coco, congrats on the win. How did you feel out on the court tonight?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I felt good today. Felt like I was playing well. Obviously, you know, Ella, she's in a nerve-racking environment, so maybe I had a little bit of advantage when I came to that, but overall happy with how I played.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How did you spend these days before your first match? Because I think you came here on Friday last week.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah.

Q. You had a lot of time to prepare. Did you use the time also for your clay preparation, or you already did the transition from hard court to clay between Miami and now?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I was already on clay right after Miami, basically. I got here early just because I felt like last year I maybe got here too late, but I also played on Wednesday last year.

Yeah, I think this year I came a little bit early just to give myself more time to adjust to the clay and indoor conditions here, too. So, yeah, I think overall I think it was a good decision.

Q. I remember last year you said you like to explore the cities and so on. Did you do anything to see something of Stuttgart and the region maybe?

COCO GAUFF: I went to the mall. That was probably about it. I went to the mall, and then I went to this restaurant called NOA, which was pretty good.

Yesterday I tried to walk to find a park, but I got lost, so I kind of just went back to the hotel. Maybe tomorrow I'll do something. I don't know if much is open because of the holiday. I'll at least try to go outside and find another park and not get lost (smiling).

Q. I want to ask you about Coco Gauff Enterprises. We are all so excited. Can you tell us a bit more, maybe first steps?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think for me I wanted to kind of create something for myself to succeed off court and have a lot of passions. There is a lot of things that I want to do. I can't really talk about a lot yet, but I definitely want to start more on the philanthropic side and building my foundation and giving back.

That's something that always was important to me, so we started the process a while ago but I guess kind of just announcing that. And other things that I want to get involved in, like production and management and things like that.

It's going to be a broad kind of branch of things, but the first focus for me was definitely on the foundation.

Q. The tournament announced yesterday that it's already sold out from Wednesday until the final days.

COCO GAUFF: Oh.

Q. I wonder, when you stepped onto the court, the stadium was completely packed. There was the music introduction with lights and everything and the crowd. Obviously they were probably cheering more for your opponent because she's the local player, but did you also got the feeling of something or you were already in your bubble with the headphones and stuff?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, no, I definitely noticed the crowd size. I think this is my third or fourth time playing the tournament. I definitely think this is the most packed it's been at least on my first match, which I thought it was just because of her (smiling).

But it's cool to know that a lot of people here in Stuttgart are supporting women's tennis. I feel like the tournament has grown every year since I have played.

I think they do a great job player-wise, providing for the players and making sure that we're well-accommodated. Obviously I have never experienced the fan experience, but obviously they must be doing well on that end too if people are deciding to come back and maybe inviting some more friends to play.

Yeah, it's great, and that's actually cool that a women's event is selling out, which I shouldn't be surprised, because we do have a strong competition. I think this is probably the hardest 500 on tour, for sure.

Q. Tomorrow is a special day. It's a holy day, kind of. Maybe you have some days during the year that are holy for you that you want to enjoy? What days, dates would that be? What would you do then?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah. I am Christian, so Good Friday is something I do celebrate. Usually I am overseas or practicing on this day, but in the past I would just have food with my family and maybe something my church will hold.

Since I'm here, I don't know, I will probably just read the Bible, and that's about it. I don't really know what else I could do. But, yeah, it's a cool kind of weekend that we have to celebrate, you know, Jesus' life and everything about that.

It is cool that the tournament kind of acknowledges that and gives us a day to kind of celebrate that.

Q. Other days?

COCO GAUFF: Other days? I mean, Christmas. That's pretty much the two big ones in my life (smiling).

Yeah, just Christmas, Easter, and that's about it. I mean, we don't get too many days off in the U.S. We don't always take a lot of holidays. Yeah, it's only for these days usually.

Q. Time just named Serena Williams one of the 100 most influencing people of 2025. Would something like that be a goal or a dream for you too someday?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, it will definitely be a cool thing. I mean, Serena is on another level. Time did, I think two years ago, part of the list of Women of the Year. That was pretty cool.

And influential people of all time, I mean, that's an incredible accomplishment that she definitely deserves. She probably influenced millions, and I'm one of them. Not only in tennis but worldwide, just to be strong women and especially women of color.

It's well-deserved. I wasn't surprised when I saw that. Her photos looked really good.

Q. I want to ask about your next opponent, Jasmine Paolini. She said in the press conference before that you two played a couple of times in practice lately in the latest months. I do wonder if you saw something that she does really well, especially since she became like a top-10 player, where she can be really tough to face, if this surface can probably level even more the matchup with her?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think she's an incredible mover and she has a really good forehand. So I think those are things -- we haven't played recently on tour, but we do practice together, like she said.

But, yeah, everybody knows about Jasmine and also the fight that she has in her. She never gives up. I have never seen her do that on the court. It's going to be a tough one on Saturday, but I think that it's going to be good preparation for Roland Garros for me.