PARIS: The French Open was Coco Gauff's first Grand Slam without homework.
The 18-year-old, who graduated from high school last month, thought the high of finishing school helped her at a time when results were not exactly going her way on a tennis court. "This year (the first few months) my tennis results weren't where I wanted them to be, just having something like that moment (graduation) was good for me," the American said.
"Seeing how much attention those graduation photos got, Michelle Obama reposted it, it reminded me that people are proud of me outside of tennis." That moment gave the precocious teen new perspective which helped her going into the French Open. "I got almost the same amount of text messages when I finished school as when I made the final (at Roland Garros)," she said.
Gauff, who accented her ability by making the fourth round of Wimbledon as a qualifier three years ago, made the last eight in Paris last year, before pushing the bar higher. Gauff was struggling with her emotions an hour after she left the court. "I feel happy and sad, I don't know how to handle it," she said.
Gauff had her family at courtside this fortnight, parents Corey and Candi and brothers Codey and Cameron, who are four and nine years younger than her.
"I think that's really where most of the tears come from, I wanted it so bad for myself and they wanted it bad for me," she said. "After the match my little brother was crying. I was trying to tell him, it's just a tennis match. I don't think they were crying that I really lost. "
DOUBLE HEARTBREAK FOR RUNNER-UP COCO
French pair Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic recovered from a set down to beat Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 2-6 6-3 6-2 and lift the French Open women's doubles title for the second time. For Gauff, it was a second final defeat in less than 24 hours.
