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\n Related: <\/span>Coco Gauff Shocks Tennis Fans by Showing Her Actual French Open Trophy<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tAfter taking home her first French Open title in dramatic fashion, tennis superstar Coco Gauff peeled back the curtain on the reality of her Grand Slam victory. In a video posted via TikTok on Monday, June 9, Gauff, 21, spoke over a backdrop of her hoisting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen trophy after defeating Aryna Sabalenka [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI wish a-year-ago-me could see me now. I was really in a dark place,\u201d she said at the time. \u201cBut I think I\u2019ve grown a lot. I\u2019m glad I used that moment to strive to get better. The next person of the season was the best I\u2019ve ever had. That just shows bad moments don\u2019t last forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gauff has been in the public eye since she was a teenager, making her WTA debut at age 15. She explained how the pressures of being a young phenom had an affect on her mental health, even as she racked up tournament wins and climbed the world rankings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn\u2019t want,\u201d she wrote in a 2020 post for Behind The Racquet<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIt added this pressure that I needed to do well fast. Right before Wimbledon, going back to around 2017\/18, I was struggling to figure out if this was really what I wanted. I always had the results, so that wasn\u2019t the issue. I just found myself not enjoying what I loved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThank You!<\/h3>\n
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\u201cI realized I needed to start playing for myself and not other people. For about a year, I was really depressed,\u201d she continued. \u201cThat was the toughest year for me so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gauff added that she considered taking a year off from tennis to focus on her life outside of sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cChoosing not to obviously was the right choice, but I was close to not going in that direction. I was just lost,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI was confused and overthinking if this was what I wanted or what others did. It took many moments sitting, thinking and crying. I came out of it stronger and knowing myself better than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cI realized I needed to start playing for myself and not other people. For about a year, I was really depressed,\u201d she continued. \u201cThat was the toughest year for me so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gauff added that she considered taking a year off from tennis to focus on her life outside of sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cChoosing not to obviously was the right choice, but I was close to not going in that direction. I was just lost,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI was confused and overthinking if this was what I wanted or what others did. It took many moments sitting, thinking and crying. I came out of it stronger and knowing myself better than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n