"It’s also a little different with the brand of ball" - Coco Gauff shares opinions on differences of Indian Wells court conditions

Coco Gauff has had her say on the differing conditions at Indian Wells compared to what other tennis players had experienced at the start of the year following a gritty 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Kamilla Rakhimova.

The American double faulted 10 times throughout the match and struggled to hold at times but was effective on her opponents serve and it proved very effective. Gauff raced into a 4-1 lead but one of the breaks was clawed back by the Uzbekistani. The comeback was not completed as Gauff broke to take a lead advantage.

A four-game spurt from Rakhimova saw her move into a 5-2 lead but Gauff was able to turn the match on its head. She got it back to 5-5 before another two breaks saw the match culminate at a tiebreaker.

It was a remarkably tense ending to the match, but the 21-year-old called on a wealth of experience and natural composure to get her over the line. "I think when the new balls came in, it gave me a little bit more liveliness to play with. And once I was able to get to 5–4, I thought, 'Okay, she’s probably feeling some nerves, so maybe I can get it to 5–all,' and I was able to," she stated on the Tennis Channel.

"Once the tiebreaker came around, I weirdly felt really relaxed going into it. There were some close points and close calls, but it was fun to play."

A lot of tennis players will show a range of emotions on courts. Some are not afraid to let their raw emotions out on the big stage, some keep it to themselves, showing off their best poker face impression. Gauff is one who is not scared to reveal what she is really feeling, letting it out rather than bottling it in. As well as that, a lot of players speak to themselves throughout the match - whether it is positive or negative.

The American is a bit of both on court. "Honestly, on both ends. Some days I’m really negative. Today I think I was positive for the most part, or even when I was negative I didn’t let it go on for too long."

She was not letting some of the frustrations get to her. "I felt like I was playing well, and then she definitely stepped up her level. The way I won the first set wasn’t going to work the same way in the second, because she started playing more aggressively and going for her shots. I wasn’t too disappointed in myself—I just wish I’d made the adjustment a little quicker. Maybe it would have saved a few future grey hairs."

Gauff was happy to be on a more positive swing of momentum than last year. "It’s a better start than last year, because last year I lost both my matches in Dubai Tennis Championships and Qatar Open (tennis). So coming into Indian Wells Open I feel a little more positive."

Once again, she was searching for the positives, referencing her most recent defeat in the Dubai semi-final to Elina Svitolina. "For me it’s about trusting myself. The match I played against Elina was a great match despite the result. If I clean up a couple of errors and a few points here and there, that’s the way I’d like to play. I just need to get used to playing that way."

The conditions at Indian Wells are most certainly different to what the players experienced Down Under and in the Middle East. One of the more vocal players was Gauff's United Cup partner Taylor Fritz.

"It’s really physical here because the courts are slow and the points are longer," Gauff explained. "It’s hard for me to hit winners, and it’s probably hard for my opponent too. So you have to be prepared to play a lot of awkward shots and long rallies."

Fritz spoke about the poor quality of the balls on the slow court, with Gauff not going down that path as much as she delved into how she had to adapt and adjust her game to suit it. "It’s also a little different with the brand of ball, so you have to adjust to that. But overall, because it’s one of the more physical hard courts, I think it favours me a little bit."

Gauff is obviously hugely recognised on the court for her achievements, but that has also been spilled off the court as well. Announced in Forbes 30 under 30, she is building a huge influence off the court with a large variety of sponsorships and endorsements.

"It was pretty cool. Honestly, it’s something I always wanted to do," Gauff said on the topic of Forbes. "Being on the list with other incredible people was amazing. They also let me have a little cover feature, which was nice. We did that in New York, I think after the US Open. I had a lot of fun doing it."

She has done work with shoe brands as well. "We collaborated with Joe Freshgoods, who designs a lot of shoes for New Balance and has his own brand as well. He was the creative mind behind it," she commented.

"He wrote the script based on interviews he did with me and with my grandma. Of course everything goes through me. To be honest, we had done a project before and I didn’t really like the outcome, so New Balance brought him in and we were able to create something special. I’m thankful to them for letting me be honest and portray myself the way I want to be portrayed."

This meant a lot to Gauff as it was related a lot to her and where she had come from. "I’m from Delray Beach, which is a small community. Not many people play tennis there, but it’s the community that raised me. Even now when I go back—my Uncle E coaches at the local high school—I see familiar faces, kids I knew when they were little who are now playing in high school.""

In her local community she was not the huge superstar who was getting mobbed wherever she goes, feeling like one of them in how they treat her. "They don’t even bother me; it’s just 'Nice to see you, Coco.' Some of them still call me by the nicknames they had for me when I was a kid. There’s something really special about that, and I always try to show that in the things I do."

Moving on from Delray, Paris was her second favourite city, and fortunately enough Gauff was able to shoot an ad in the French capital. "We shot the ad in Paris, which is my favourite city outside of Delray Beach. We had already done one in Delray, so the next one was Paris."

In her personal life, she has been recently doing some escape rooms as a bit of a turn-off from the pressure of being a professional tennis player. One of which was with Tennis Channel pundit and former professional Christopher Eubanks.

However, she was ruthless in describing his impact in proceedings. "Least valuable player," she joked. "Sorry, Chris. My hitting partner isn’t very valuable either. I don’t know—guys just aren’t good at escape rooms. They don’t pay attention to details. He always says my ideas don’t work, and then they end up being right."

The two-time Grand Slam champion will be turning her attention away from the escape rooms and endorsements back to tennis with the third round of Indian Wells fast approaching. She will be taking on Alexandra Eala in a repeat of the Dubai quarterfinal in which the world number four dropped just two games in a rampant performance.