Australian Open: Coco Gauff says she doesn’t have ‘grown woman strength yet’ at 18

Coco Gauff has yet to gain her ‘grown-up woman strength’, but the 18-year-old American says she belongs on the WTA Tour and no longer feels like the new girl after making her professional debut nearly five years ago.

Gauff, who enters the Australian Open seeded seventh after winning the taper tournament in Auckland last weekend, stormed Wimbledon in 2019 when she beat Venus Williams in the first round.

Gauff, a finalist at Roland Garros last year, said he is still much younger than many of the veterans on tour and knows he has a lot of room to grow.

Coco Gauff arrives in Melbourne as the seventh seed at this year’s Australian Open

The best of the 18-year-old is yet to come, but she has reason to believe before the race begins.

“Compared to other players, obviously I’m still much younger than them,” Gauff told reporters on Saturday.

“I definitely feel more experienced and like I belong. I don’t think I feel like a veteran, but I don’t feel like the new guy.” I feel like I’m in the middle of the pack.

Gauff, who made her professional debut on the ITF circuit in 2018, doesn’t expect to peak until she is in her 20s.

“As much as I’d like to think this could be the best I’ll ever be, I don’t think so because I feel like most tennis players are reaching their career peak between the ages of 22 and 26,” he said.

Gauff prepared for the Australian Open with a promising victory in New Zealand last week

“I realize that physically I’m at a much different level than I was when I was 15, I think I’m still going strong.”

‘There’s a joke my mom has: ‘You still don’t have that strength of a grown woman.’ You’ll know when you get it.”

Gauff faces the Czech Katerina Siniakova in the first round of the Australian Open, which begins on Monday.