Coco Gauff: "For me, being a tennis player is 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th to who I am as a person... it's important I continue to be a voice for the voiceless"
Coco Gauff recently spoke about what being a tennis player means to her, stating that she wanted to use her standing in the sport as a platform to speak up for the "voiceless" communities around the world.
Gauff has earned commendation in the past for her political stands on various issues, most famously when she delivered a speech during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
Speaking at her pre-tournament press conference at the WTA 1000 Qatar Open on Sunday, Gauff asserted that being a tennis player was far down the priority list for her when compared to who she was as a person.
The 20-year-old was more interested in being the voice of the people around the world, and helping otherwise marginalized communities find some time in the spotlight.
"I think for me it's always important to speak up if there is issues that I care about. For me, being a tennis player, it's second, third, fourth, fifth to who I am as a person. I always try to keep, you know, God first, family and friends, tennis, and community -- you know, friends, family, and community before tennis. So, yeah, I think it's important that I continue to just speak up and be a voice for the voiceless," Coco Gauff said.
For instance, Gauff considered playing in the Middle East to be an important part of the job, seeing as it was another place where there were a lot of fans from minority communities with different kinds of struggles.
The World No. 3, in fact, opined that walking around places like Qatar and other Arab countries made her believe that people could connect a lot more with her for the same reason.
"I definitely feel when I play in places where there are more minorities, it does feel truthfully like a connection, and we all have different struggles in the world, depending on our race or background," Coco Gauff said.
"Hopefully it is something we can connect on, being different or being perceived different than how we actually are. So I do, you know, feel a connection a little bit here or just anyplace where I play where, you know, it's more minorities. I feel like I feel that in the crowd here and I feel like when I'm walking around the site here, I feel like people connect with me on that," she added.
"I think the people are excited to have me here, that just makes me excited to play here" - Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff further added that she felt very welcome with the people in Qatar, even though they looked different from each other and did not have anything in common at the outset.
Regardless, the very fact that they were both minorities, especially when seen from the point of view of the Western side of the world, gave Gauff a sense of kinship with her fans in the Middle East. As a result, the American admitted, she felt very excited to play in the tournaments in that region of the world.
"You know, even though we are different, we look completely different, but being a minority in the world especially, you know, not so much in the Middle East but in the world, especially when I'm on the Western side of the world, it definitely is understanding," Coco Gauff said.
"So I think they understand that, and me being here, definitely I feel that connection. I do feel very welcome with the people here. I think the people are excited to have me here. That just makes me excited to play here," she added.
In the 2024 edition of the Qatar Open, Gauff will open her campaign against Katerina Siniakova.