Coco Gauff relishing ‘surreal’ moments as partisan crowd create ‘NBA’ atmosphere

American youngster Coco Gauff ‘won’t take for granted’ the supportive and noisy New York crowd as she advances to the US Open quarter finals

Coco Gauff is backing up her run to the final of the French Open with another impressive set of wins at this year’s US Open, but it’s the crowd that are adding an extra element

Gauff had just completed an impressive 7-5, 7-5 victory of China’s Zhang Shuai to book her place in the last eight of the 2022 US Open women’s singles where she will face resurgent French star Caroline Garcia

 

 

The New York fans have been making their voices heard in support of Gauff and she was asked about the atmosphere and if it’s different to anything else she’s experienced,

“Way different. I was, like, saying on the 6-5 changeover, people were saying, ‘Let’s go, Coco’. I was literally trying not to smile. Well, I guess I could have ended up smiling. My coach says I need to smile more often. I could have.

“I was, like, I’ve got to stay in the zone. Inside I was trying my hardest not to smile. This is a surreal moment for me, on Arthur Ashe Stadium people are chanting my game. I feel like I’m at an NBA game.

“That’s a special thing about tennis. You go to a football game or an NBA game, people are chanting the team’s name. That’s great as a player. For you to have the whole crowd chanting your name specifically is something I won’t take for granted.”

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