Coco Gauff’s second-round US Open win on Thursday, August 28, over Croatian pro Donna Vekic did not come easily. Fortunately, for her, she was able to look to the stands for some inspiration.
That’s where she noticed Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.
“She helped me pull it out,” Gauff, 21, told the media after the match. “I was just thinking: If she could go on a 6-inch beam and do that, with all the pressures of the world, then I can hit the ball.”
Gauff was visibly emotional in the opening set after double faulting, appearing to use a towel to hide her tears.
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“I just show people what it’s like to be a human, and I have bad days,” she admitted. “But I think it’s more about how you get up after those bad moments and how you show up after that.”
Seeing Biles, 28, who has been open about her own mental health journey on her way to seven Olympic gold medals, helped her keep things in perspective.
“It brought me a little bit of calm, just knowing her story, with all the things she went through mentally,” Gauff said. “She’s an inspiration, surely.”
Biles, who is one of only four female gymnasts to compete for Team USA at three different Olympics, memorably withdrew from the finals of the individual all-around competition and a number of other events at the 2020 Summer Games, citing mental health concerns.
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“I say put mental health first,” she told the media at the time. “Because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your sport and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to. So it’s OK sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself, because it shows how strong of a competitor and person that you really are — rather than just battle through it.”
Biles reflected on the moment a year later, telling USA Today that she was glad to be able to push athletes’ mental health “to the forefront.”
“I honestly didn’t realize in that moment the impact that it would have,” she said in the 2022 interview. “A couple months later, I have acknowledged everything that has happened. But it still blows my mind to know that it wasn’t spoken about before as much as it is now, and we’re not open about it and people don’t perceive it the same way as an injury.”
As for Gauff, she said she was able to “reset” following her rough start on Thursday.
“It was a challenging moment for me on the court,” she said. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks on and off the court, but I’m just happy to get through it today.”
Gauff’s next match will be against Poland’s Magdalena Fręch on Saturday, August 30.
