Coco
Gauff joined the discussion about the noise of the crowd at
Roland Garros. The
world No. 3 has already reached the fourth round of the
French Open with ease
after defeating the 30th seed
Dayana Yastremska 6-2, 6-4. The American has not
yet conceded a set and has averaged only 2.5 games per set.
The
2023 US Open champion is one of the most beloved players by fans at practically
every tournament she participates in. In a press conference, the 20-year-old
was asked for her opinion on the crowd noise, a topic that was addressed during
the week by
Iga Swiatek and
David Goffin, prompting reactions from several of
their colleagues.
"My
favorite court other Than US Open is Suzanne Lenglen"
A
journalist took advantage of Gauff's press conference to ask her opinion on the
noise from the fans during the matches: “You've played on all the great stages
of the game. Can you just go off sort of free-form on the differences on the
big stages, what you like, the differences, and also, maybe what's the most fun
crowd or different, unusual crowd of some of the smaller tournaments,” the
world No. 3 was asked.
“I
like big crowds obviously, and I like when people are passionate about the
match. I know sometimes during the point it can be tough when there's crowd
noise, and especially when it's unexpected. I think constant noise is better. I
think to an extent it's tough because you're watching a match at such high
stakes, and I see myself as a spectator,”
Coco Gauff expressed.
“Even
when I'm watching my little brother play, you want to make a noise. It is tough
sometimes. I think for the most part people are respectful to the players.
There's obviously some crowds that maybe aren't,” she added. “But my favorite
court - well, I mean, other than US Open - honestly, I like playing on Suzanne
Lenglen the last two days, which I wouldn't probably have picked that answer in
the past, but I don't know, there were so many kids on that court.
Coco Gauff (18) has the third most Roland Garros wins before 21, just behind Iga Swiatek (21) and Ana Ivanovic (19).
“They
were, like, cheering for me really loudly, which I wasn't expecting. I feel
like usually when I play on Lenglen, the crowd is more calm and chill. But for
some reason this year, I don't know if the tickets have been changed. I don't
know. Every time I played there, there was a group of boys, different boys, but
all under the age of 12, and they were just cheering super loudly. I actually
enjoyed that. And they were respectful to my opponent, which I like when it's
like that.”
The
next challenge for Gauff will be against
Elisabetta Cocciaretto (No. 51), who
has reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
The Italian has had a remarkable campaign with victories over two top-20
players:
Beatriz Haddad Maia (No. 14) in the first round and more recently
against
Liudmila Samsonova (No. 17) in the third round. Now she will seek the
most important victory of her career against the American.