WATCH: Coco Gauff celebrates turning 20 with surprise birthday cake after Indian Wells 4R win
Coco Gauff registered an emphatic win in her fourth-round contest at the 2024 Indian Wells, which coincided with her 20th birthday. After the win, the young American celebrated the special day with a cake during her post-match interview.
Gauff is seeded No. 3 at the 2024 Indian Wells and faced No. 27 seed Elise Mertens in the the fourth round on March 13.
The Belgian had no answers to Gauff's powerful play and could not hold her serve even once in the first set. Mertens found some footing in the second set but Gauff was too good to be downed. The American comfortably came through, 6-0, 6-2, in just over an hour.
The win was a perfect gift for Coco Gauff, who bid goodbye to her teenage years and turned 20 on March 13. After her match, she sat down for an interview with Tennis Channel and was surprised with a cake to celebrate her birthday. Gauff approved the cake after eating it.
"It is good," Gauff said while eating the cake.
During her press conference, the World No. 3 discussed her "tennis goals" after turning 20 and stated that she aims to prioritize her career and achieve success at the Olympics and Grand Slam levels.
"I guess tennis goals, definitely to win some more slams, and I want to medal at this Olympics or 2028. That would be cool," Gauff said.
Coco Gauff to face Yue Yuan in Indian Wells QF
Coco Gauff will face World No. 49 Yue Yuan in the quarterfinals of the 2024 BNP Paribas Open on March 15. This will be the first tour-level meeting between the two. Yuan will come into the match in the best form of her career, having won nine matches on the trot on the WTA Tour.
The Chinese player defeated No. 11 seed Daria Kasatkina in the fourth round in Indian Wells. She came to the Californian desert after winning her maiden WTA Tour title at the ATX Open in Austin. She bettered compatriot Wang Xiyu in the title contest of the WTA 250 tournament.
As for Gauff, Clara Burel gave her the run for her money in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open. But she persisted to down the Frenchwoman 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
The reigning US Open champion survived another tough match against Lucia Bronzetti in the third round before her comfortable win against Elise Mertens.