Cori Gauff: "US Open without crowds? Better for me"

Cori Gauff, the next US Open star, is a predestined one. She debut in the Slam at 15 and a half years-old, not a goal for everyone. Doing it and winning against Venus Williams, on the same court where the American legend had triumphed five times in his career, is the privilege of the predestined.

Cori Gauff, the American tennis player born in 2004, was able within a few months last year, to reach the round of 16 in Wimbledon, to beat the defending champion Naomi Osaka at the US Open and to win the first WTA title in Linz, after eliminating tennis players such as Kiki Bertens, Andrea Petkovic and Jelena Ostapenko.

Then, against Osaka, Coco would have won again at the beginning of 2020, eliminating the Japanese also at the Australian Open. It is difficult to imagine that a 16-year-old girl may have already done all of this: yet Coco has succeeded in this, showing an incredible ability to manage pressures and expectations, as well as obviously technical and physical skills out of the ordinary.

During a recent interview, however, Gauff revealed an interesting detail about the next edition of the US Open and the fact that it will be played without a crowd: which, according to Cori, would even represent an advantage for her.

Cori Gauff speaks on the US Open without crowds

Because of the emergency caused by the global pandemic, in fact, Flushing Meadows will play behind closed doors without crowds. A fact that theoretically could disadvantage American tennis players, driven by a crowd that is certainly not polite like that of Wimbledon. US Open crowd, like we saw inthe last years, was all for Serena and Venus Williams, but also for Roger Federer.

Gauff, on the other hand, believes that the absence of the crowd can play in her favor, as conditions similar to those that frame the matches of the junior Tour would be created. She said: “It will be easier for me. I've only been on the Tour for a year, so for me it will simply be a return to the junior years, when we never had a large crowd. Usually only your parents saw you in the tournaments."

Regarding the restart of the women's Tour, Cori is looking forward to coming back: "I am ready to come back to the court and resume traveling," Gauff underlined: "I prefer to travel than to stay at home."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Zw33Vq