It must have been the lucky sevens that gave Gauff her motivation to do something about her game that just wasn’t as top notch as she wanted it to be. The seventh ranked young woman on the tennis tour thought that she could elevate her performances but proof was shown as she’d fallen 0-7 on having success over the no.
1 in the world, Iga Swiatek. “I’m a warrior”, the smiling teen had said upon winning her ultimate crown in the final of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. But her warrior days didn’t consist of digging for nuts and berries or hunting out her dangerous prey in a tree covered forest.
She was literally grabbing and thinking of ways and tennis weapons to finally win a match over her gritty, overbearing opponent. “It feels really good…I can be at that level or compete at that level,” Gauff said giving herself a pat on the back for neutralizing Swiatek’s game and winning the semifinal 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
Iga had to get real saying “Today I fought to the end…My tank of fuel is pretty empty.” She’d also had to acknowledge and give kudos to her teen opponent who often left the court emotional over repeated defeats. But not this time.
“Coco, she’s a great player. This one…
