Coco Practicing Patience In Cincy

GAUFF: ‘NOT SATISFYING UNTIL YOU’RE HOLDING THE BIG TROPHY’

By Richard Osborn

Coco Gauff is a baseball fan.

Not that she has much choice in the matter. Her grandfather, Eddie Odom, once played in the Appalachian League in the Atlanta Braves organization, after all. And he founded the Little League chapter in Gauff’s hometown of Delray Beach, Fla., which is still in existence today. She says she grew up volunteering in the press box, scorebook in hand.

So it came as no surprise this week when, despite the threat of a rainout, Gauff took advantage of an off-night and hoofed it from her hotel in downtown Cincinnati to Great American Ballpark to see the Reds take on the visiting Phillies.

“I have love for it, for sure,” said Gauff, only minutes after booking a spot in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti. “I’m definitely someone who prefers to watch baseball in person than on TV. It can be boring, not going to lie.”

“My grandfather is a hardcore baseball fan, to the point where if you go to the game with him, you have to get there two or three hours early because he likes to see batting practice and how they warm up, and he likes to stay until the end, even if it’s going over the nine innings. I’ve just learned to be patient because of baseball.”

Patience can be virtue on the tennis court. Gauff will attest to that. As with baseball, you’re often failing more than you’re succeeding.

“It’s hard to win every week,” said Gauff, a titlist here in 2023, the year she went back-to-back in Cincinnati and Flushing Meadows. “For me, it’s trying to forget the losses, but more so remembering how I lost. With the wins, I try to celebrate myself a little bit. But I’m very much a perfectionist type of person, so it’s really nothing satisfying until you’re holding the big trophy. But I’m doing better about appreciating the little wins along the way, too.”

Gauff’s half of the Cincy draw sure opened up in a hurry with seeds like Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, and Slam champs like Jelena Ostapenko, Sofia Kenin and Barbora Krejcikova, making earlier-than-expected exits. However, the world No. 2 insists she’s not overlooking anyone.

“Sometimes it’s harder when you’re playing people who are unseeded because they’re going into that match with nothing to lose and everything to gain,” she said. “If you look at it from that perspective, you’re kind of going in the opposite. I don’t pay attention to ranking or anything like that because, at the end of the day, everybody is capable of winning, regardless of their ranking or anything — especially if you look at the last two tournaments [Wimbledon and Montreal, where upsets were aplenty]. I’m always on guard and ready.”

“To be honest, I get more relaxed playing a top seed because you expect them to play great tennis. There’s something about knowing that if you lose, it’s because they’re playing great tennis. Sometimes when you’re playing an unranked person, they can start off not playing so well, then all of a sudden be playing Top 10, Top 5 tennis just because they’re playing loose and relaxed. It’s more of a mental thing than an actual ranking thing.”

Two major singles titles into her career at age 21, Gauff has been shouldering weighty expectations ever since she jumped into the spotlight at the All England Club in 2019, the year she stunned idol Venus Williams en route to the Round of 16. But she’s never been one to let the wins or losses determine her self-worth.

“I feel like I’m under a microscope my whole career, honestly, with things on and off the court,” she said. “I guess winning a slam defines whether you’re having a good year or not. That doesn’t just go for me; that goes for all players. Sometimes tennis fans want us to win every week, but we’re playing 11 months. It’s not that easy.”

Maybe those fans should take in a little baseball now and then, a game of patience. Gauff sure enjoyed her trip to see the Reds, though the home team fell, 4-1, and after the game, she was sent running through a downpour. Luckily, a tournament car came to the rescue. Said Gauff: “It was definitely worth it. I had a great time.”

Wouldn’t grandpa be happy.