No pressure as Gauff enjoys her tennis

Coco Gauff took less than an hour to dismantle Swiss Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-2 in Melboour today to book a second round showdown with world No 5 Elina Svitolina.

Gauff, still only 16, said she decided tog tale a more laid back approach this week – and it worked as she said she has learned to cope with the pressures of the pro game.

“I put way less pressure on myself than I did last week and you can kind of see how the match played that I kind of played a little bit more free than last week,” she said.

Coco GAUFF was a comfortable winner over Jil Teichmann. Photo: Tennis Australia/ ROB PREZIOSO

“I learned a lot from the summer series here, and I’m happy to take what I learned into this week.”

Gauff told reporters she had learned to cope with the high expectations.

“I don’t feel any pressure,” she said. “You want to do as well or even better than the year before, but I try not to think about it and just take it one match at a time.”

Of her next opponent Svitolina, Gauff added: “She’s a great player and I know it’s going to be a tough match, but I’m just going to embrace the opportunity and try to play well under the pressure.”

Peter Rowe

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