Coco Gauff punched her ticket to her first U.S. Open final on after she defeated Karolina Muchova, 6-4, 7-5, on Thursday night, but she had some interesting ideas for what to do after the semifinal win.
After such a monumental victory moved her a step closer to capturing her first Grand Slam title, one would imagine she might have an interesting post-match dinner planned or try to go over some film to prepare for Saturday.
But that wasn’t quite the case for Gauff.
“Press. Treatment. Watch some anime,” Gauff responded when asked how she’d spent the next few hours. “No literally today I watched like four or five episodes of ‘My Hero Academia’ before I played. I don’t know, I mean I may watch some of the match, maybe not. I don’t know I haven’t even thought that far ahead to be honest.”
Gauff’s response drew a mix of laughter and cheers from the crowd.
Thursday was another big night for the 19-year-old American tennis star, who seemed unflappable despite a nearly 50-minute delay due to climate protesters.
Gauff became the youngest American (male or female) to reach a U.S. Open final since Serena Williams did so in 1999 at the age of 17, according to ESPN.
Gauff is part of a resurgence for American tennis, though she didn’t see it that way.
She did express disappointment that she never got to play Williams during her career.
“I don’t think I’m carrying American tennis. I don’t think I will,” Gauff told ESPN. “We have so many compatriots who are doing well. Serena is Serena. She’s the GOAT. I’d hope to do half of what she did. But I’m not gonna compare myself to her. She’s someone I look up to.
“Being in the same stat line as her means a lot to me. She’s my idol.
“The only regret I’ll have for the rest of my life is not being able to play her… there were so many tournaments where if we won an extra round & didn’t lose, I would’ve played her.
“I’m still happy to just be a product of her legacy.”
