Coco Gauff Talks Health, Clay, and Boycotts Before Italian Open

Coco Gauff has already had to overcome an alarming shoulder injury and stomach-turning illness this season. Even more challenging, Gauff is gearing up to defend many rankings points at the Italian Open (Internazionali BNL d'Italia), followed by the French Open.

Yesterday, Gauff spoke with the media ahead as part of her pre-tournament press conference in Rome, Italy. Below are three of the biggest quotes from Gauff.

Health

When asked how she was feeling and what her recovery looked like after the Madrid Open, Gauff explained, "Yeah, when I started my first practice, I felt 100%. I took three days off after my last match, and I feel fine, like nothing happened. It was definitely a weird maybe 48 to 72 hours, but I got through some tough ones, and I had chances in the last match. So, given I wasn't feeling 100% is definitely some positives to take for sure."

Hardest and Easiest Surfaces

Gauff was asked which was the hardest surface, and her answer was unsurprising, "Well, I guess for me the hardest has always been grass. I just think there's no one can really build momentum on grass. If you do well slowly, you're playing the week before, and you win that tournament, but then you're playing the first round of your Grand Slam two days later, which is tough, and so I think grass is the hardest.

And the easiest, I don't know. I think both clay and hard felt similar to me, maybe clay just because it's a shorter amount of tournaments, so usually if you're playing well, you're usually playing well the whole swing, whereas hard is a little bit broken up some at times. So, yeah, but definitely grass is the hardest for me."

Boycotting Grand Slams

Aryna Sabalenka made headlines when she floated the idea of boycotting Grand Slams for more prize money. Gauff backed up Sabalenka. "Yeah, honestly, I kind of agree with that." Gauff cited the WNBA's recent success, but also pointed out that they had a union.

"So I definitely agree with her on that standpoint, and I think I've heard talks, and I think a few other players agree too," Gauff said. She later added that she could "100%" see herself taking part in a coordinated boycott among many of the top players.

Gauff is currently the WTA World No. 4 with a singles record of 19-8 with zero titles. The Italian Open runs through May 17. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.

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