Q. On the court, you mentioned you were emotional, spoke about your joy earlier. You said they weren’t sad tears you had. Is that like a strategy where you’re trying not to talk down to yourself? Is there a moment you noticed previously in your career where you were doing that and you kind of wanted to experience more joy during your play?
COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think I can talk down on myself, and things like that, but in that moment, you know, an athlete that I was inspired by at the Winter Olympics, Alysa Liu, and I had the mindset today that regardless of what happened, you lose, but there is no real loss in the situation.
I was just looking at my box and seeing all my family and friends and hearing them in the crowd, and I know how much they supported me just to be on this stage, so I was just thinking more gratitude and things like that.
It is a mindset shift, because obviously as soon as you lose a final, it’s tough. I’m, like, thinking about — you could see on the bench before, I was just thinking about the match and replaying all the points. Then after, it’s over, you just learn from it.
Yeah, I’m grateful, because I didn’t think to be here and I’m here, and I know I can repeat this and come home with a bigger trophy, and I feel confident in that.
