Coco Gauff once opened up about her family’s emotional reaction to her 2022 French Open final loss to Iga Swiatek. The American also revealed how she felt about her family and coaching team being moved to tears after her crushing defeat.
No. 18 seed Gauff delivered a fairytale run at Roland-Garros that year, beating the likes of Elise Mertens and Sloane Stephens to reach her maiden Grand Slam final at just 18 years of age. The American locked horns with 2020 champion Iga Swiatek in the title clash, with the Pole dominating the contest and claiming a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
Coco Gauff, who was visibly distraught after her defeat, broke down in tears at her bench while Swiatek celebrated her win. The then-18-year-old also struggled to contain her emotions during her runner-up speech, as she apologized to her team for failing to win the match.
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In her post-match press conference, Gauff candidly disclosed that her family's presence was responsible for her tearful reaction, since she was very disappointed to have let them down. The American was especially devastated to see her younger brother Cameron in tears, shedding light on how she had tried to console him.
"My family means a lot to me. My brothers came. I think that's really where most of the tears come from, because I wanted it so bad for myself, and I know they wanted it so bad for me," Coco Gauff said.
"After the match, my little brother was crying and I felt so bad, because I was trying to just tell him, It's just a tennis match. I'm like, Why are you crying? I'm like, I'm crying too, I know. Everybody's crying. My physio was crying, and I was like, Jeez," she added.
Gauff said her family and her physiotherapist weren't crying over her loss but instead were hurt by seeing how upset she looked. She also maturely shared that they would move on from the loss by having a fun card game session as a family.
"I don't think they were crying that I lost really. It wasn't that. I think they just saw me -- you know, I'm pretty happy and outgoing if people know me personally. I think for them to see me so upset, I think that's what hurt them the most," she said. "Tomorrow, or even tonight, we're going to play cards again and we are going to laugh and we are going to be fine."
Despite feeling sad, Coco Gauff said she was "super proud" of herself for reaching her first Grand Slam final and asserted that she planned to learn from the challenging experience.
"This helped my confidence a lot... I felt so much pressure" - Coco Gauff on her 'relief' at competing in French Open final
Despite suffering a loss to Iga Swiatek in the 2022 French Open final, Coco Gauff shared that she was very relieved to finally compete in a major final after feeling a lot of pressure to get there since she was just 15 years old.
"I definitely feel like this helped my confidence a lot. I just think even when I was 15, 16, 17, I felt like so much pressure to make a final. Now that I made it, I feel like a relief a little bit. So, yeah," Coco Gauff said in the same press conference.
The American later reached her second Grand Slam final at the 2023 US Open and squared off against Aryna Sabalenka. In the summit clash, Gauff made a comeback after losing the first set to claim a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory and clinch her first major title.
Coco Gauff followed in her idol Serena Williams' footsteps with her victory by becoming the first American teenager to triumph at the New York Major since Williams won the title in 1999.
