Women's Tennis

Tennis was my first sport as a youngster but unlike basketball (which I also played) I didn't enjoy tennis as a spectator. While I do like watching some games I didn't watch it as much as I did basketball. After I stopped playing, I didn't watch as much. I only watched those marquee games like Nadal and Federer and unless it was close I never watched it intently.

Lately though, because some of my friends became passionate about the sport I started watching some games again. During Wimbledon, Coco Gauff caught the worlds attention including mine. She was this 15 year old girl who beat one of the greatest women's tennis players of all time and one of the players that probably paved the way for her - Venus Williams. More than her skill on the court what made me follow her was her poise and eloquence when being interviewed. She seemed wise beyond her years and she was very level headed during interviews.

When I watch basketball, I also like watching post game interviews because I feel you get a lot of insights on the mindset of these elite athletes as they compete in the biggest stages of sport. And so as I followed the US Open a very sweet and viral moment happened as the world's number 1 Naomi Osaka beat Coco. As the victor she asked Coco to join her in the post match on court interview. Being the elder but not by much, Naomi is 21 and Coco is 15 she was giving her younger competitor a chance address the crowd who came to watch her and appreciate the competition between two up coming athletes. See the video below.

 

In the formal post match interview Coco defined what an athlete and what competition is all about. It's being the worst enemy on the court but your best friend off the court. She says this in the 1st minute of the video below.

I'll also include Naomi Osaka's interview.



 With these interviews you can see how their mindset is an how they approach the game. For any athlete I feel that watching these post game interview will help their mindset. With the way these women carry themselves on and off the court I'm hoping for the coming of the golden age of women's tennis (unless it already happened when I wasn't watching).