Coco Gauff on her Roland-Garros goals, love for red clay and how her parents continue to shape who she is - Exclusive
Red clay is home to a lot of "firsts" for tennis star Coco Gauff.
"Red clay is honestly something that I grew up on, something I've been playing on since I was ten years old," she told Olympics.com in a recent exclusive interview.
"It's always the first for me, my breakout [surface]: My first junior Grand Slam was on red clay. My first major quarter-final was on red clay, my first final... It's a lot of 'firsts' for me on the surface and [that] gives me a lot of confidence."
This was a few weeks ago, at the Madrid Open, but on Thursday (6 June), the 2023 US Open champion will play in her third-consecutive major semi-final, taking on three-time and reigning Roland-Garros winner Iga Swiatek, the world No.1, for a spot in Saturday's championship match.
"The goal is to win French Open," Gauff told us in Madrid, adding: "One day... and hopefully it can be this year."
She's two match wins away, but Swiatek offers the steepest test today in women's tennis, having won her last 17 matches in a row (all on red clay), and tallying a 33-2 record in Paris overall.
Gauff is 1-10 in her career against the Pole, including a loss at Rome earlier this year on clay.
The world No.3 knows she has a tall task in front of her, but also isn't suppressing her Parisian desires: "Everybody knows I want to go all the way," she told reporters Tuesday (4 June) after beating Ons Jabeur.
Coco Gauff on the Olympics at Roland-Garros
"It's going to be weird playing the Olympics at Roland-Garros because... you know, we're just used to it being Roland-Garros," Gauff told us with a laugh.
She added: "I'm really happy that the Olympics are on red clay because I don't remember the last time that's happened."
She's not wrong. The last time the Olympic tennis event was held on the red clay was for Barcelona 1992, with each of Games thereafter - with the exception of London 2012 - being held on hard courts. 2012, of course, was held on grass, on the grounds of the All England Club, Wimbledon.
Rewind to 1992 and Jennifer Capriati's Olympic title at 16 - Gauff was yet to be born... for another 12 years (2004).
"I'm really, really happy to play on clay," the 20-year-old mused in regard to the coming Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Her quarter-final win over Jabeur marked a 50th career victory on the surface, which, if you're a tennis fan, you know suits Coco's playing style - hence her stated excitement: She has a spin-laden baseline game with a forehand that can bite off the clay surface, and - when her serve is on - it can complement her speedy footwork.
She calls Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix two of her favourite Olympians for a reason.
Thursday marks her third straight meeting with Swiatek at Roland-Garros, having lost that aforementioned 2022 final in a career first for Coco, while also bowing out to the eventual champ in last year's final eight.
Coco on her parents: They told me, 'You have to work hard'
Both of Coco's parents, Candi (Odom) and Corey Gauff, are former collegiate athletes, with her mother having competed in athletics and her father a basketballer.
It's experience that Coco, who turned 20 in March, has helped pay off in her own burgeoning career, especially as she's found success at a young age.
"They definitely helped me a lot," she told Olympics.com. "Not even just growing up, but now. And I think, even though they played at a collegiate level, D-I is a very tough level for sports. And they understand the pressures behind it and you understand the mentality you have to have."
At times, Corey has taken on the coaching role for Coco, who travelled in her early development as a junior to work at Patrick Mouratoglou's academy in France, before collaborating with a range of top-level coaches recently, including the revered Brad Gilbert.
Gauff said it's how they started her out as a youngster, when she began tennis at age six.
"They always supported me," she said. "With their parents, you know, [they were] probably short-sighted with them and how far they felt like they could go. So when I was growing up, my parents made sure to never... if I said, 'I want to be this.' 'I want to be that.' They never they're like, 'No, it's tough to do that.'"
Gauff continued: "They were like, 'Okay, let's do it.' And, you know, [they told me]: 'If you want to do that, you have to work hard.'"