WASHINGTON — In her first stop after four matches on Wimbledon’s biggest courts, Coco Gauff and her rising star illuminated the Citi Open on Saturday in the nation’s capital.
Gauff, 15, won a first-round qualifying match in front of a crowd of about 3,000, the largest in memory for the tournament’s qualifying rounds, which rarely feature players familiar to casual tennis fans.
“I just think it’s crazy how literally four weeks ago not a lot of people knew my name, and now a lot of people do,” Gauff said in a news conference after defeating Maegan Manasse, 6-4, 6-2.
The crowd vocally supported Gauff, whose given name is Cori, throughout the match, and gave her a standing ovation upon her victory.
She built her fan base at Wimbledon with a star-making first-round victory over Venus Williams, eventually losing in the fourth round to Simona Halep, the eventual champion.
Gauff’s father and coach, Corey, said the reception afterward in her hometown, Delray Beach, Fla., was more than he had expected.
“I would love to come home with a trophy,” he said. “But they just wanted to express the support, and we were really appreciative. Everyone was really nice. I guess she’s kind of the local celebrity right now.”
Gauff’s celebrity is, at a minimum, nationwide. The turnout in Washington was particularly impressive given the short notice: She learned she would play at the tournament only a day earlier.
Tournament organizers could not grant Gauff a spot directly into the main draw because she has used the maximum number of wild cards into tour-level events, as limited by the WTA’s age eligibility rule. And the tournament’s entry deadline came before Gauff’s ranking soared 170 places, meaning she had to use her pre-Wimbledon ranking of 313th.
Gauff had been more than 15 spots away from qualifying as recently as a week ago, and appeared unlikely to reach the qualifying draw. Tournament organizers still planned to feature her on Sunday, in a kids’ day event and an exhibition match. But improbably, enough players withdrew before the draw was made — including the defending champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who said she was unable to obtain a visa — to allow Gauff in.
The Citi Open is likely to be the last tournament Gauff plays before the United States Open, which begins in New York next month. She hopes to optimize the few remaining chances she has to play on tour this year, and to get used to her newfound fame.
“It doesn’t feel normal at all,” she said. “I’m still getting used to it. I don’t know when I’ll get used to it or if I’ll ever get used to it, but I’m super grateful for all the people that are cheering for me.”
Corey Gauff said that even as requests rolled in for his daughter, knowing that she still has room for improvement has kept him from being distracted by the deluge of interest.
“It’s easy for me to stay grounded: You’ve got to go back to looking at film, you’ve got to go back on the things you need to work on to continue to improve,” he said. “When you start thinking about the work you’ve got to do, it’s easy to be oblivious. We get a lot of phone calls with requests, but she can’t do everything.”
Many within tennis have been reaching out to Gauff, including Frances Tiafoe, 21, who was also called the “next big thing” in American tennis after success as a teenager.
“She’s doing unbelievable,” Tiafoe said. “I just DMed her and I said: ‘I know your phone is blowing up, and I know everybody in the world is going to know about this, but hey: Get used to it. You’re a superstar in the making. This is your level, and don’t be satisfied now.’”
Her father said he knew there would be “many ups and downs along the road” for his daughter to navigate as she progresses.
“She’ll have great wins, and she’ll have devastating losses that she’ll recover from,” Corey Gauff said. “If she wants this to be her career, she can play 20 years — or she might just play 10 and decide she wants to do something else with her life. It’s perfectly up to her.”
On Saturday, there was a lot of excitement for those years ahead. Gauff said she was already able to learn something new from the match: how much slower the court is at this tournament compared with the hardcourts she trains on in Florida.
“I feel like I have so much more time,” she said.
