Meditation and boy band key for Gauff at French Open
World number three Coco Gauff hopes that meditation and the noisy backing of a group of young boys will unlock the secret to French Open success.
The American star reached the last 16 at Roland Garros for a fourth successive year on Friday with a straight sets win over Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
US Open champion Gauff, the runner-up to Iga Swiatek in Paris in 2022, came through an error-riddled clash on Court Philippe Chatrier 6-2, 6-4.
The 20-year-old American will face unseeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy for a place in the quarter-finals.
Gauff was 5-2 ahead in the second set before she eventually prevailed on a second match point after a clash where both players carved out 22 break points and combined for 62 unforced errors.
As third seed and scheduled to meet Swiatek in the last four, Gauff says that using meditation techniques helps put her title bid into perspective.
"Sometimes I like to lay on the ground and just meditate, whether it's for literally a minute or two or 10 or 15," she said.
"I think it helps to keep you grounded because sometimes in these tournaments the pressure can feel like a lot and I think sometimes you just lay on the ground, and you just think that there's billions of people on this earth and billions of people don't even know who you are.
"So the matches aren't as big as they feel sometimes."
Gauff has been a crowd-pleaser ever since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon in 2019 where she came through qualifying to reach the fourth round, defeating former champion Venus Williams along the way.
In Paris, she has attracted attention from a crowd of young boys who were a constant feature in her earlier matches on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
"There was a group of boys, all under the age of 12, and they were just cheering super loudly. I actually enjoyed that," said Gauff.
"And they were respectful to my opponent, which I like when it's like that."
F.Stewart--EWJ
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