‘I’m more stress-free’ – Coco Gauff reveals how Twitch helped improve her tennis since the French Open
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Updated 11/10/2022 at 15:02 GMT
French Open finalist Coco Gauff has revealed her interests in the streaming world have helped improve her performances on the court after a change in her approach this year. Gauff is regarded as one of the most highly-rated youngsters in tennis having burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon in 2019, famously beating Venus Williams. She is now in the top 10 of the WTA rankings.
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Coco Gauff believes a more relaxed approach, including her interests in Twitch and Youtube, has improved her tennis this year.
Gauff has reached a career-high of world No. 8 following her run to the quarter-finals at the US Open and revealed she has changed her mindset and lifestyle since the French Open, where she was runner-up to Iga Swiatek.
The 18-year-old has been open about her mentality throughout 2022 with a desire to become the “greatest”.
“I'm more stress-free," she said. "It was a big transition for me because I felt like I was surrounding my life with tennis.
“A year ago or even a couple of months ago there's no way I would have gone to TwitchCon before a tournament because I thought I had to solely focus my life on this.
"I realised that I have other interests and it's OK to embrace it. I started doing that in Paris, that's where it all started for me, and I found my results were much better. I realised it was the complete opposite of what I needed to do."
Gauff is the world No. 1 in the women’s doubles along with Jessica Pegula with the pair winning two Masters events this year at the Qatar Open and the Canadian Open.
She is also looking to seal a spot at the WTA Finals, which takes place from October 31 to November 7.
The American is fourth in the race to the season-ending tournament and is competing in San Diego this week.
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"I definitely think this is the toughest part of the season for everyone," continued Gauff.
"The Grand Slams are over and you're just trying to get through the end of the season and you see the finish line.
"I'm just motivated to try and finish it as well as I can. I'm glad that San Diego is the start of the end."
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