Wimbledon: Coco Gauff on gun violence, managing pressure

"At 18 I can go and buy a gun in the US right now with no experience, no training or anything. But if I wanted to get some champagne to celebrate the French Open I couldn't do that. I think that's crazy. I think that there definitely needs to be some change."

US tennis starlet Coco Gauff was expressing her incredulity in response to a question from DW in Berlin last week, where she was warming up for the grass court season by taking part in the Bett1 Open in the Grunewald Forest.

But she had other things on her mind, too, speaking out in the face of increasing mass school shootings in her homeland. Last month, 19 school children were killed in the Texas town of Uvalde, bringing more attention to the gruesome impact of gun violence in the United States.

After Gauff's semifinal victory at Roland Garros in Paris last month, she scribbled a message on the broadcast TV camera lens directed at her compatriots: "Peace, End Gun Violence." It is a topic that clearly troubles her.

"When I was younger, they had Sandy Hook and Parkland," she said, referring to historic mass school shootings. "It is happening so often. I have brothers that go to public school. I don't think we have any right to complain about it if we're not doing anything to move towards a solution."

The issue of gun ownership is closely tied to the increasing political divide in the United States, and Gauff hopes her voice can further increase awareness of the issue. But her outspokenness could also make her enemies among America's powerful pro-guns lobby, who are ferociously resistant to sticter gun controls.

"I haven't received any [negative] feedback yet," she said, but it surely won't be long.

The pressure of expectations

It is easy to forget that Gauff, who was born in Atlanta in 2004 before moving to Florida with her parents Corey and Candi in order to pursue tennis after being inspired by the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, is still at the beginning of her career.

But she hit the limelight early when she won her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) title in Linz, Austria, in 2019 - aged just 15.

Since then, Gauff has become accustomed to the pressure and expectations which come with being the next big thing on the women's circuit.

When she faced Naomi Osaka in the third round of the 2019 US Open, everyone expected her to win in what was billed as the next great rivalry in tennis. After all, she had triumphed against one of her heroines, Venus Williams, in the first round. She lost to Osaka in straight sets, but she was able to put the defeat in perspective.

"It is difficult growing up in tennis because everybody is watching your ups and downs. It's great when they see your ups but, obviously, when you're down people forget that you're still learning," she told DW. "I learned that I shouldn't put too much pressure on myself because of what other people expect from me."

While it's easy for fans to get attached to their favorite athletes, especially starlets like Gauff who also express their personalities off the court, it makes it equally difficult to see them lose. So how does Gauff manage that?

"I am still trying to manage the downs," she admitted. "In my head, I used to think losing a match was almost the end of the world. Whereas now I realize that you're going to lose a lot of matches but hopefully you're going to win even more. So I try not to dwell too much on the losses, just try to learn from them and come back stronger."

Wimbledon and a first grand slam title?

And so Gauff heads to SW19, the plushy green courts of Wimbledon, for the year's third grand slam in positive mood.

She finished runner-up in Paris, losing to world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the French Open final. She was also a finalist in the doubles where she partnered with fellow American Jessica Pegula.

In Berlin, Gauff powered through to the last four, knocking out seventh-ranked Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. But she wilted under the summer heat where temperatures rose to 34 degrees in the semifinal against eventual winner, Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, who enjoyed the huge support of her compatriots in the stands. It ended 7-6, 6-2.

But Gauff has learnt not to put herself under too much pressure as she targets a maiden grand slam.

"I know it is going to be difficult but there's a lot I have learned from the French Open to take me into Wimbledon," she said. "I just want to take it one match at a time."

One match at a time on the court and, as America's gun control debate rumbles on, one political battle at a time off it.

Edited by Matt Ford.