Here’s the advice 15-year-old tennis phenom Coco Gauff got from her dad before winning her first WTA title

In 2019, At just 15 years old, Cori “Coco” Gauff became the youngest woman to win a Women’s Tennis Association title since 2004 (and the youngest American to do so in 28 years) by winning Austria’s Linz Open.

Gauff, who in July became the youngest player to ever qualify for Wimbledon, beat former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in three sets to win her first WTA singles title and take home $43,000 in prize money.

COCO GAUFF CAPTURES SINGLES AND DOUBLES TITLES IN PARMA
Fresh off her semifinal run in Rome, the 17-year-old American cruised past China’s Wang Qiang, 6-1, 6-3, before partnering with Caty McNally to claim the doubles crown on Saturday.

Gauff, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 30 on Monday, has put together a remarkable season thus far, reaching two semifinals and two quarterfinals. She’s 12-3 on clay this season. Her father was her emotional support:

“Just relax, you’re not going to sprint to the finish line,” Gauff’s father and coach told her. “We’re going to walk to the finish line, OK?”

The elder Gauff went on to tell his daughter it was important to trust her abilities on the court in order to think positively and not let the pressure of the potentially historic moment throw her off her game.

“What I want you to do is take your mind to another place right now. Remember we talked about that?” Gauff asked the tennis star.

“Take your mind to another place, take yourself to a practice match, just play. Don’t think about negatives, just think about positives,” Gauff told his daughter.

“Hopefully we can both keep this going all the way to the French Open,” she said in her victory speech.

Later on Saturday, Gauff partnered with compatriot and friend Caty McNally to claim the doubles final, defeating Darija Jurak and Andreja Klepac, 6-3, 6-2. They have now won three tour-level doubles titles together. With both her wins today, Gauff becomes the youngest player to sweep the singles and doubles titles at an event since Maria Sharapova 2004.