Coco Gauff embraces a sense of liberté ahead of the 2025 French Open

Coco Gauff is relishing in a sense of freedom, or rather, liberté (liberty) ahead of her first match at the 2025 French Open on Sunday, 25 May.

Buoyed by a year chock-full of highlights, including her first-ever WTA title, second career Grand Slam title (her first in doubles) and an Olympic Games punctuated by the honour of carrying the flag for Team USA, the 21-year-old tennis superstar from Delray Beach, Florida is basking in the glow of a largely pressure-free existence.

“I didn't feel that much pressure, really, going into Australia,” Gauff revealed during a press conference ahead of the tournament. “I was playing pretty free and I don't really feel that [pressure] here.”

It’s a weightlessness that’s allowed the two-time Grand Slam winner to simplify her approach to competition, and if everything goes according to plan, her path to victory.

“I think just taking it match by match, point by point, and hopefully I can end up there,” she responded, when asked if her approach to Grand Slam tennis had changed. “If not, I'll go back to the practice [court] and figure out what I can do to do better.”

Perhaps part of her liberation from the stress and pressure associated with being one of tennis’ most touted players, was the realization that she’s still a student of the game.

“I feel like I'm always learning, especially at this stage of my career,” explained Gauff. “I have a lot to learn, and a lot I can improve on, and a lot that I can get better at.”

She’s been a quick study too. Since failing to reach the second week of the French Open on her debut in 2020, Gauff’s yet to be eliminated in the first week of the tournament, advancing to the women’s singles final in 2022 and winning the women’s doubles competition outright with Czechia’s Kateřina Siniaková in 2024.

Still, with the women’s singles bracket open as ever, the path towards a third career Grand Slam victory will be anything but a walk through a Parisian park for Gauff.

“Literally anybody can win this tournament,” she teased. “I think that's what makes women's tennis exciting.”

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