US OPEN

September 1, 2026

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

C. GAUFF/Z. Sonmez

6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Coco, congratulations.

COCO GAUFF: Thanks.

THE MODERATOR: We'll go right to questions.

Q. Coco, you said after the match that you weren't nervous as you were on court about to play tonight at Ashe. What are the factors that have put your mind at ease?

COCO GAUFF: I mean, I was nervous in the tunnel, and then for some reason when the warm-up started, it went away. I think it showed the first game how I came out serving really well.

I don't know what put my mind at ease. I think just maybe the confidence I had this week and knowing, like, you know, the opponent would have to play a really high level and me a really low level maybe for it to not go my way.

But Zeynep brought that high level today. Yeah, I was just happy to get out of that second set.

Q. A lot of people are talking about the technical changes to your serve on the broadcast tonight. I thought you could be the one to ask. Maybe you could tell me, what would you say are maybe one or two of the biggest technical differences in your serve from this time last year to now?

COCO GAUFF: Maybe the consistency on the toss. Not throwing it too far in front, so I'm not falling too much. I think maybe not curling my wrist maybe as much.

Honestly, it's been a gradual change with the serve. I don't even realize how much it looks different until someone posted a video of me serving even in Miami Open this year, and my serve looks different now.

I didn't really feel the difference that much, but I think it's just the constant reminders that my coaches have been giving me, and slowly it's adapting to maybe the way it should look.

Q. Can you elaborate on the curling of the wrist just briefly?

COCO GAUFF: I think that's a question for Gavin. Sorry I can't really explain it, but if you know, you know, I guess.

Q. You have also talked about regaining your confidence in your serve. How did that confidence manifest itself at 3-2 in the second when you had to save all those break points?

COCO GAUFF: I think just knowing that I do have, you know, a high break percentage and knowing I can break. And I feel like, you know, the game I got broken before, I didn't -- maybe took a little bit off on the first. I was trying to go for a big kick, and it just didn't go my way.

So just knowing that it does take a lot maybe to break me, and she played the way she needed to to earn that break. Honestly, the last game I was just focused on just trying to get out of it, and I knew if I could hold that game, I felt confident breaking the next game. Yeah, I did.

Q. You talked about feeling not nervous or not as nervous and feeling more confident in your game. I'm just wondering, have you felt this calm and confident before heading into a slam? Also, assessing your performance, is this one of the stronger opening-round performances at a slam for you?

COCO GAUFF: I think maybe French Open last year, like, the first -- actually, no, that's not true, because the first match I was nervous.

Yeah, I mean, probably I think when you take in the factors at the level my opponent was playing and me, I think that it was, like, a high-quality first-round match. Yeah, I think it's definitely one of the better ones.

Obviously score-wise I've had some easier ones, but I just think that was a factor of me playing well and maybe my opponent's level not being as high, and I think today is probably one of the better matches she's played, especially in that middle of that second set.

Yeah, I don't know if -- this match will be in the past. I don't take, like, how I feel -- that doesn't mean the next match I won't feel nervous, because I probably will. I don't know, it was just a weird feeling today that I felt pretty calm.

Q. Before the tournament you mentioned you would like to see Zina Garrison get some recognition onsite. Over the weekend Sloane Stephens received an award from the USTA Foundation for her work with her foundation. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Sloane's impact on black tennis specifically and how she's impacted you. I know you go way back. I'm curious to hear your thoughts exactly, you know, what she's doing and how, you know, you might want to kind of continue that legacy with your own path.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, no, Sloane has been an important part I think of just, like you said, black tennis, but especially specifically in my career. She was probably the closest tennis icon I had around me. We had the same childhood coach, and I was able to be able to watch her practice from up close.

I had my tennis birthday one time, and she came and surprised me at that. I felt like the coolest kid ever to have Sloane Stephens at my birthday party.

Yeah, she's someone that has always been super nice to me and definitely underrated in a sense of all she's done. You know, her foundation, she's been doing it for years, and she's really hands-on with it, from what I've seen. I mean, I'm not working with it, but just from what I've seen.

She's doing a lot of clinics different times of the year in underprivileged areas, and I think that's something that people don't really see. I'm glad that USTA kind of recognized her for that, because she's probably one of the few on tour who are as hands-on with their foundation as she is, and it's something that kind of inspired me to get on the jump in and start mine.

We're in really early stages, but I definitely would like to impact as many kids as Sloane has done in the sport of tennis. Yeah, she's an inspiration for us all, and I'm lucky that I've gotten a chance to know her for so long. The grace she's shown me has been the same from the beginning until now.

Q. The US Open every year always coincides with back to school for a lot of kids. When you were in elementary school and growing up and seeing all the ads for back to school, were you excited for this time leading up to school? Were you indifferent? Were you upset? Were there any teachers you were looking forward to seeing? How was your feeling of back to school, like these days right before?

COCO GAUFF: Well, I was homeschooled since third grade, so I don't really have any memories of back to school, to be honest. I mean, yeah, honestly I can't really answer the question.

I mean, this time of the year, I mean, it would be time to -- I was doing Florida Virtual, so it would be time to start I guess our tutorials or this was the easiest week of school by far.

But, yeah, I went to the Open every almost year. I don't ever recall doing schoolwork while I was here, so I think it was still, like, break for me. But yeah, unfortunately, I didn't have a normal childhood, so yeah (smiling).

Q. Usually the huge tennis stadiums around the world are named after tennis icons, like Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, you name it. You're just coming from Arthur Ashe. Right next door there is an arena named after the jazz legend Louis Armstrong, which is, I would say, pretty unique worldwide. What are your thoughts on honoring Mr. Armstrong on that stage and how familiar are you with his legacy?

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, honestly, I think it's super cool. I think I became aware of who Louis Armstrong was maybe my first US Open. Honestly, growing up when I came here, I didn't know. I think isn't there like a wrestler or somebody, like Armstrong or something? I don't know.

I told my dad, and he completely got so mad at me because he's a big music head, and he is like, No, that's not who that is. He gave me the whole rundown on the jazz history of Louis Armstrong, and I think it's super cool.

I think it's very unique to New York because of how much jazz history belongs in the city and music history in general. I definitely think it is cool for the US Open to do something honoring him.

Yeah, I think it's cool when sport and music come across, come together. So, yeah, I do know the history of Louis Armstrong. But, yeah, maybe they should, like, say it more, because I feel like growing up it's just something I didn't know until my dad told me.