{"id":42168,"date":"2023-12-31T14:15:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-31T14:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/gauff-says-pressure-is-off-in-2024-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-12-31T14:15:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-31T14:15:07","slug":"gauff-says-pressure-is-off-in-2024-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/gauff-says-pressure-is-off-in-2024-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Gauff says pressure is off in 2024 | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nAUCKLAND:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

World number three Coco Gauff<\/a> said Sunday she felt more relaxed heading into the next month’s Australian Open after achieving her goal of winning a Grand Slam title as a teenager.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old won the US Open in September and said it was a weight off her shoulders as she embarks on her 2024 season at the Auckland Classic beginning Monday, where she is defending champion.<\/p>\n

“I felt like I had a clock and I needed to win as a teenager,” said Gauff, who turns 20 in March.<\/p>\n

“Just for how I started, with Wimbledon and everything, I felt like I just needed to.<\/p>\n

“Not with anyone’s expectations from my team, but fans and people who watch the game,” she told reporters in Auckland.<\/p>\n

Gauff burst on to the scene as 15-year-old at Wimbledon in 2019 and was earmaked as a future Grand Slam champion after reaching the fourth round.<\/p>\n

Four years later, she came from a set down in New York to beat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and become the tournament’s first American teenage champion since Serena Williams in 1999.<\/p>\n

“That feeling I felt on match point was a high and I want to continue to chase that high,” said Gauff.<\/p>\n

With a first Slam tucked under her belt, she said it would be a different feeling at the Australian Open starting on January 14, which would otherwise have been the last chance to achieve her teenage dream.<\/p>\n

“I’m always going to put pressure on myself. I want to strive for more and I don’t want to only win one,” Gauff said.<\/p>\n

Gauff said her 2023 campaign was defined in her mind as much by her shock first-round loss to Sofia Kenin at Wimbledon as her US Open breakthrough.<\/p>\n

“After Wimbledon I reached the lowest point of my career, losing that match,” Gauff said.<\/p>\n

“Learning from it helped me push forward and I think sometimes you need those setbacks to push you forward.<\/p>\n

“Not to wake me up, because I felt like I always was awake, but realise that maybe you should put less pressure on every single match.”<\/p>\n

Gauff faces fellow American Claire Liu in her opening match in Auckland on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n