AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2026

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/O. Danilovic

6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on your win today. Just talk us through how it felt on court today and what you were most pleased with.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I felt pretty good out there. I thought it was a pretty straightforward win. Olga is a tricky player, but I'm just happy with how I managed today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. This is a bit of a heavier question to start, but you're usually pretty outspoken about political issues. I'm curious how you feel about the state of the U.S. when you're into the second Trump Administration.

COCO GAUFF: I mean, I think I have already stated my opinions in the past on how I feel about it. Yeah, I hope forward that we can have a lot more peace in our country, more kindness in the way we speak to each other about different topics and things like that.

Obviously, I have been pretty vocal about how I felt, and yeah, I don't feel at this point -- I feel a bit fatigued talking about it, just because of the fact that it is hard also I think being a Black woman in this country and having to experience things even online and seeing marginalized communities being affected and knowing that I can only really donate and speak out, and I try my best to do that.

Yeah, I just hope that as time continues, that we can reach a state where we're not currently in and we keep moving forward. I posted that video of Martin Luther King yesterday, and that was kind of saying that we must keep moving forward even though things may not be as calm as I would like it to be right now.

Q. On the topic of maybe making the world a better place, the UNCF reported that you made a pretty sizeable donation to HBCUs. If you could speak about the importance of that cause and what means to you.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, it's super important to me. I think if I didn't play tennis, I would have loved to attend an HBCU. I have families members on both sides, both my grandmothers went to HBCUs, uncle and aunt went to HBCU, and growing up just attending, going to HBCU Classic games and things like that.

Yeah, I think, for me, it was just important to support that cause, especially in tennis. I feel like HBCU tennis a lot of times doesn't get the funding that they need. So for me, I would just always try to uplift, like I said in the previous question, marginalized communities and, you know, put things, support where I can.

Yeah, I hope it goes to students who really need it, and -- well, it will go to students who need it. Yeah, I'm happy that I was able to do this for the second year in a row.

Q. I think somewhere you said, I didn't want to keep playing a game style I didn't like. I'm just wondering, the debate, because it's tricky. There's a game style that makes you win, and maybe another one that in your head is a perfect game style for you. How did you reconcile both? What was the perfect picture you had in mind?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think just continuing to be aggressive. I think the way I thought I had to be was just ultra aggressive, hitting completely flat. I realize that that's just probably not the game style for me. Like, I still want to be aggressive, but just playing with a bit more spin and kind of playing like how some of the guys do, like taking more space, hitting heavier shots, not necessarily flatter shots.

I think with the way my strokes are, I think that just makes more sense for me. I feel like so far this year, I have been able to execute that. I think it's just being more comfortable with that playing style and also not being too passive in tight moments, just making sure I accelerate.

Q. Your next opponent, Hailey. What do you think of her sort of recent rise over the last year or so? She's been pretty solid. What do you expect out of that match?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I'm really excited to play her. Like you said, I have known her for so long. It's always great to see people you come up with do well on the tour and be able to face them in these big matches.

Yeah, last time I played her was a while ago. We have both gotten better since then, so it will be a different matchup.

I'm looking forward to it, and it won't be easy, but at the end, I'm just proud of us to both make it at this stage. I don't even remember the first time I met her. Had to be, like, 10 or 11 years old, so it's just pretty cool.

Q. Aryna has had quite a few questions, as the World No. 1, do you feel like you need to be this or that, promoting the game, that sort of thing. You're obviously one of the biggest stars, as well. Do you feel that kind of pressure? Do you think it's different from the guys? I don't feel like Carlos and Jannik get asked necessarily those same kinds of questions.

COCO GAUFF: I mean, I don't know. I can't speak from Aryna's standpoint, but I can speak from my standpoint. I think the way that I kind of burst on the scene and the way I have been, I guess, active in issues going on in the world, I feel like I'm more prone to people to ask me questions like that.

I have no problem. I have always said that I want to do more than just play tennis and affect the world in whatever way I can.

So, yeah, I don't know. I guess from my perspective, that's the way I look at it. But, yeah, I can't speak from Aryna's perspective, because I have never been No. 1, so I don't know what that pressure would feel like.

But I feel like I experience it in a different way just because of, like, I've been 15, 16 years old speaking on issues in the world. So I feel you guys are curious of what my opinion will be.

Q. Do you feel when you were younger and following the sport, did you have that expectation of kind of leading players that they should be more than just a tennis player, as well?

COCO GAUFF: I don't think it was necessarily an expectation. I think that's just something that, I don't know, I just feel like, low key, like I feel like born, the way I grew up.

My grandmother, first integrated, first Black woman to attend a high school in Florida, integrated that school, and very active in the community in Delray, or where I live. Both sides, actually I have people on both sides that integrated schools.

So I just feel like, low key, that's just in me. And I felt, I don't know, I think ever since I was younger, I just feel that my purpose in the world is just to always uplift the people around me, those who maybe don't have a voice. Yeah, I think that's why I just do that, but it doesn't feel like an expectation or pressure. It just feels like that's what I've got to do.

Q. The first and second round, two very similar scorelines, but did the matches feel different to you, or did they feel the same? How did they feel how would you compare them?

COCO GAUFF: No, today I think felt a bit better. I think I felt better off the serve, for sure, and off the ground. I think that just goes because of first-round nerves playing and also two different game styles.

I think today I felt, like, better I did than my first round, despite the score. Also, even though first round was a straightforward score, there were so many games that went long, like, 10-minute games that were deuce, ad, back and forth. I think today I did better of closing those games out quicker.

Q. I think you went to a few concerts in the offseason? Camp Flog Gnaw? Dijon?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, Dijon.

Q. Very jealous of that have one. What was the best experience of those? Could you explain that picture of you chasing Tyler, the Creator?

COCO GAUFF: That picture is actually after Miami Open. I lost, and Tyler had a show that day, and I was just, like, Let me just go. Nobody knew I was there, but his friend recognized me and brought me to the back.

Tyler was, like, Let's race. Of course, I'm not going to turn down a challenge, so I raced him. He's fast. He was way faster than I thought. So I kind of started out thinking I could just jog it through, and he went out fast, so I tried to speed up, and I almost fell. That picture was him beating me in the race.

Yeah, I went to Flog Gnaw this year. I have been going every year. I just love experiencing live music. It was really cool that I got to see some of my favorite artists live and got to meet one of my favorite artists, too.

Q. Who else did you see there?

COCO GAUFF: I saw, well, everybody on the Flog Gnaw lineup. I don't want to name everybody.

I actually saw Aminé, like, last week here or, yeah, here. So, yeah, and Dijon and everybody that was on the Flog Gnaw lineup: Doechii, Clipse, Kaytranada. Yeah, basically everybody.