Coco Gauff says she struggled with depression, nearly took year off before Wimbledon stardom
Coco Gauff struggled to deal with the hype and pressure of her budding tennis career and almost quit for a period of time ahead of her breakout 2019 Wimbledon appearance, she wrote in a piece for Behind the Racquet.
Gauff became the youngest Wimbledon qualifier in the Open era last year at the age of 15. It was far from the first time the American sensation hit a youngest-ever milestone. She said being the youngest to do things “added hype that I didn’t want” and “pressure that I needed to do well fast.”
It was around 2017-18, when she was around 14 years old, that she said she struggled to figure out if she really wanted a tennis career.
“I always had the results so that wasn’t the issue, I just found myself not enjoying what I loved,” she wrote for Behind the Racquet. “I realized I needed to start playing for myself and not other people. For about a year I was really depressed. That was the toughest year for me so far.”
She said she didn’t feel as though she had many friends and struggled to look through a “dark mindset” to the good things. It was less about tennis, she said, and more about juggling everything she wanted. She’s home schooled to compete on the professional circuit and has had to miss special events, such as her brother’s birthday during the French Open.
“I knew that I wanted to play tennis but didn’t know how I wanted to go about it. It went so far that I was thinking about possibly taking a year off to just focus on life. Choosing not to obviously was the right choice but I was close to not going in that direction. I was just lost. I was confused and overthinking if this was what I wanted or what others did. It took many moments sitting, thinking and crying. I came out of it stronger and knowing myself better than ever.
“Everyone asks me how I stay calm on court and I think it’s because I accepted who I am after overcoming low points in my life. Now, when I’m on court, I am just really thankful to be out there.”
Gauff, who turned 16 in March, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and became an overnight mainstream sensation. She reached the third round of the U.S. Open and the the fourth round in the Australian Open this year. She then broke into the top 50 spots of WTA rankings. She became the first 15-year-old to do so.
She’s viewed as the future of women’s tennis and the one to take the throne from Serena and Venus Williams. She has already defeated Venus in competition and said while she hopes to be like them some day, she’s not there just yet.
“At the same time I don’t like being compared to Serena or Venus. First, I am not at their level yet. I always feel like it’s not fair to the Williams sisters to be compared to someone who is just coming up. It just doesn’t feel right yet, I still look at them as my idols. With all their accolades I shouldn’t be put in the same group yet.
Gauff won her first WTA title in Linz, Austria, late last year. The following week she won a doubles title in Luxembourg and made the Australian Open doubles quarterfinal in the final tournament before the COVID-19 crisis shut down sports.
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