Coco Gauff lifts lid on ‘coolest interactions’ at Olympics and Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal selfies -‘The two goals!’
Coco Gauff didn’t have the results at the Paris Olympics that she would have wanted as she failed to progress far in any of the three events she played. However, the US Open champion says she has a “great experience” and has lifted the lid on the “coolest interactions” she had, including with fellow tennis players and Team USA greats. Gauff in action at the Canadian Open in Toronto this week.
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Coco Gauff has revealed the two tennis selfie “goals” she managed to achieve at the Paris Olympics – and her hopes to podium in four years’ time in Los Angeles.
World No. 2 Gauff competed in singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Games, but suffered early exits across the board.
The furthest she went was the third round of the singles, where she lost to Croatia’s Donna Vekic after a tearful exchange with the umpire.
While Gauff didn’t win a medal, she did enjoy the overall experience that included rubbing shoulders with some sporting superstars.
“The coolest interaction, I met [US swimming great] Katie Ledecky in the elevator…I had a talk with [100m gold medallist] Noah Lyles which was really cool, I took a lot of gems from him. It was a natural conversation but he is just the type of person you can learn a lot from about confidence and believing in yourself.
“I met Sha’Carri [Richardson], Simone Biles, Suni Lee, the list goes on and on…It was very cool. The US men’s basketball team.
“I finally got a picture with Rafa [Nadal] and traded pins with him. Carlos [Alcaraz] didn’t have any pins so I didn’t let him get in the selfie! I finally got a picture with Andy [Muray] which I always wanted to ask.
“The two goals were to get a picture with those two and ironically they were tennis players so I could have done it at any tournament!”
The next Olympics will be on home soil for Gauff in Los Angeles.
She hopes to again compete in all three events in 2028 and this time be among the medal contenders.
“I would still do all three [events] again if that’s a possibility in ‘28. I mean it’s four years from now, I’ll be 24, so will still be on the healthier and younger side of things, and especially if the draw size for mixed is that small, I feel like that’s one everyone wants to play,” she said.
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“I had a great experience, from not being able to go to Tokyo to being able to go here, I just feel like LA, I’ll hopefully be on the podium. I just feel like that’s what my life consists of, having a disappointing result and then the next time is the best thing in the world.”
Gauff was also a flagbearer for Team USA and says as long as she is fit she will play the Olympics every time it comes around.
“I would 100 per cent choose to do it again even if I lost the first round and everything. It was something that was incredible being a flagbearer, it was something I wouldn’t have expected and meeting all the incredible people that I met, I don’t take it lightly. Every Olympics I qualify in, I’ll for sure play unless I’m injured.”
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Gauff is one of the headline names at the WTA 1000 Canadian Open in Toronto this week.
Given the quick turnaround following the Olympics, she says she has “no expectations” for the tournament.
“I am not going into this expecting to win or anything. That would be great and it’s the goal, but being realistic I was on clay three days ago.
“I’m just trying to use this to see where I am and what I need to do to get ready for US Open.”
The US Open, where Gauff will be defending champion, starts on August 26.
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