MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 23, 2026

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/S. Cirstea

6-4, 3-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Coco, what do you think about your match today?

COCO GAUFF: I thought today was a good day. I mean, I had a lot of momentum. It changed really quickly. But that's tennis. Just learning from those moments on how to stay on top.

Sorana is obviously a great player and also has had a great season. I knew today wouldn't be easy.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You had to navigate a lot out there. Tricky opponent. There was the fan who fell ill. Talk a little bit about how you navigated all those things.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, Sorana obviously is tough, like I said. She's been having a great season. I know it's her last. I feel like she goes to every match with nothing to lose.

As far as the fan, I heard she's okay. That's good to know. Yeah, it was a little bit of a wait. I guess I want more a bit faster medical team response. I felt like it was 10 minutes. No one actually ever came. My physio was the one over there.

I'm just glad to hear she was okay. I was a little bit worried because from where we were sitting, it looked like she wasn't moving. They said it was more of a leg thing, then she fainted from the shock.

Yeah, I'm just glad she's okay.

Q. Your bucket list, your first quarterfinal in Miami. Is it relief? Are you excited? Also about going three sets every match.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I mean, I guess it wouldn't have to happen any other way than to put some work in. Yeah, I think in the previous times I've played here, I've had some tough matches. Maybe mentally wasn't in there. Today I just wanted to stay mentally in there.

Q. There was a great volley you hit on match point. You've been No. 1 before in doubles. You went on Twitter and saw people saying you should come to the net more. What is your relationship like with social media, going on Twitter? Do you go on there often?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, actually I saw it on Threads. I got confused, it wasn't Twitter. I'm on a Twitter break. Yeah, Twitter is a bit toxic. I actually haven't been on like in a month or two months. I saw it on Threads.

Yeah, I guess I have to remember that part of my game. It's something we do practice a lot, my coaches encourage a lot. I think just in the match situations just trying to remember what you practice and trusting that.

Yeah, I consider myself as someone who can volley decently well. I'm obviously not the best volleyer, but definitely not the worst. I think trying to remember that I can come up with some good volleys.

Also sometimes the volleys are the easiest play because it's the least amount of thinking. It is really hard to overthink a volley.

Q. Earlier in the week you mentioned maybe you wanted to be a mother after your tennis career. Between the grind of the season and some of the sacrifices you're making to be who you are, after tennis, is that something you visualize often?

COCO GAUFF: No, I don't really visualize I guess life after tennis right now. Yeah, I don't know. I definitely wouldn't want to have kids while playing, so... Probably I'm pretty certain on that.

Yeah, you never know. I mean, Serena, Venus, a bunch of people all said similar things. I just don't see it for myself.

Yeah, I honestly haven't really thought about life after tennis. I definitely don't want to coach or anything. You won't probably see me out there.

At first I said no commentating, but then it kind of looks kind of fun. Maybe I would consider doing something like that.

Yeah, I haven't thought that far ahead.

Q. What are your thoughts about playing either Belinda or Amanda?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I mean, I'll start with Amanda. She's obviously really tough player. Last time we played she beat me pretty easily in China. I think I have to learn from that match and be able to get on the front foot sooner.

Then Belinda, I don't remember the last time we played, but it was recent.

Q. Beijing.

COCO GAUFF: Beijing, okay, yeah. That was a three-set match, too. I was able to come out of that with Belinda. She's been having a great season, too.

They're both capable of winning any tournament any time. I have to be ready either way. But this is what you expect in the later stages of these tournaments.

Q. I think it was yesterday, Tennis Channel showed this graphic of your toss. Did you see it?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I actually did see it.

Q. Since you did see it, what did you think of it? When you think about your serve, how much of it is the motion itself? Is the toss something you're focused on? Is it going along the baseline for reasons because you're trying to do different sorts of serves? They compared it to Elena.

COCO GAUFF: I mean, she's the best server on tour. I need to get to there (smiling).

No, I saw that graphic. It's something I've been working on. I know my toss isn't as consistent as I'd like to be. When the pressure hits, sometimes you don't even care if they know where you're serving. You just to get the serve in. But it's definitely something that I've been trying to work on and be more consistent with.

At the end of the day it's something I work on in practice and try to remember in the match. Also I just try to do what feels most comfortable.

But yeah, I would like to get to a point of somebody like Elena where it's pretty spot on every time. Yeah, it's definitely one of the things we're working on, though.

Q. You were just talking about the mental side. Would you put that down to the reason that you really haven't done that well over here in the past? How much of it has also got to do with the pressure of playing in essentially your backyard? When players are playing in their hometowns, they do feel that extra pressure and don't necessarily perform.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think I feel like every time I've played here, there's always that extra layer. You just see familiar faces in the crowd. You don't want to disappoint them.

This year I just came with the mentality of just trying to enjoy the environment and the match instead of maybe focusing on the result. Even though I've had some tough matches here, I've had a lot of fun. I think the biggest thing is approaching these tournaments embracing the situation more so than putting pressure on the situation.

Q. Nowadays in tennis stats analytics are a big part of the sport. Recently I heard that ATP is providing some ATP IQ, which is a tool to analyze the stats with an AI system. How much do you rely on these stats? Do you welcome if WTA also had that kind of AI analyzing system?

COCO GAUFF: I mean, I don't know if there is a WTA one. I don't use it. I have a separate service that I use.

I'm not the one reading the stats. My coaches are. I feel like I'm obviously aware of certain patterns I have, aware of certain patterns that my next opponent or whoever I'm playing at the time has. It's not something I like to get down all the way into the details in because I feel like it can overcomplicate things in my head.

I think stats are definitely important to use. I think my team does a good job of finding the fine line of telling me the stats of certain situations, but also letting me feel it out.

Especially when you haven't played someone before, sometimes the stats are inaccurate because people can change their game completely based who they play.

Yeah, I definitely think it's something I pay attention to more so especially where my opponents like to serve I think is the most stat thing I like to know before I go on court.

Thank you.