Coco Gauff on why she's so high on world No. 9 Carlos Alcaraz.
By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, April 29, 2022
Coco Gauff knows what it takes to make a deep run on Roland Garros' red clay.
In a clash of former French Open girls' champions, Gauff defeated Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-1 charging into her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal in just her seventh major appearance at the 2021 Roland Garros.
Assessing Roland Garros title contenders, Gauff tabs fellow 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz as "my favorite to win Roland Garros."
In a new interview with AS.com's Jaime Davila, Gauff calls Miami Open and Barcelona champion Alcaraz "an amazing tennis player" and one of her favorites to watch.
"Carlos is an amazing tennis player, I love watching him play," Gauff told AS.com. "I have known him for many years, we coincided in several tournaments while still children. I entered the professional circuit before, and I did well in my first tournaments. Now he's entered the men's circuit and he's doing really well.
"[Carlos is] someone I try to learn from, he's my age and I think even guys have a little harder time getting good results when they're so young. It is more common to see young girls having early success. But Carlos has the potential to go very, very far, and I always support him. In fact, it's my favorite to win Roland Garros."
Gauff and partner Jessica Pegula made a winning doubles start in Madrid today.
After Pegula saved a match point edging Camila Giorgi 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 in singles, she joined forces in doubles with Gauff scoring an emphatic 6-1, 6-4 victory over the formidable team of Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff, who has sharpened her net skills in doubles and applied that aggression to singles, said she plans to keep playing both and reveals her secret to doubles success: She doesn't really practice, or stress, doubles.
"I see myself able to combine it. To be honest, I don't train any doubles," Gauff said. "People think that, since I'm doing well in it, I train a lot. And it's not like that, maybe the day before a match I do something.
"But I focus on preparing for singles, which is my priority. I love playing doubles and the successes are coming luckily, but I don't prepare too much."
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook
