‘I’m not fighting for my life’ – Coco Gauff says ‘it’s just a tennis match’ after Bernarda Pera win at Australian Open

The 2022 French Open finalist was mostly untroubled by her unseeded opponent who made too many unforced errors to make the match on Margaret Court Arena truly competitive – Gauff eventually came through 6-3 6-2.

And in her interview after the match, she said that she – even at just 18 – takes a relaxed attitude to the rigours of elite-level sport.

“I’m really not that nervous when I play,” Gauff told on-court interviewer Jelena Dokic.

“It’s just a tennis match, it’s not like I’m out here fighting for my life, I’m just over here playing tennis. It’s a tennis match, it’s just a game, the worst thing that can happen is I lose and I try again.”

“I think before anything I’m a human before I’m a tennis player,” she added.

“So I’m always going to advocate for human rights and I feel with the platform that I have, and the background that I came from and the way I was raised – I was always told the importance of speaking up – and for me that’s something I take pride in and I will always do it.”

Gauff has not dropped a set in 2023 and will play Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round on Sunday, but, despite the seemingly straightforward nature of her win over Pera, she praised her opponent.

“Yeah today was a tough match,” added Gauff.

“Bernarda hit the – well I can’t say that word – but hit the ball really hard and I was just trying to hang in there and take the ground when I could. Last season she had a long match streak so I knew she would be a tough player to beat so I’m just really happy to be through to the second week.”

Should Gauff beat Ostapenko, she will face the winner of Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina in the quarter-final.

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