"She called me" - Coco Gauff discloses tradition with family as she receives birthday wishes from her grandmother on turning 20
Coco Gauff turned 20 years old on Wednesday, March 13 and celebrated her birthday by handing Elise Mertens a crushing defeat to reach the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Gauff broke Mertens a staggering six times and dished out a bagel in the process to win the match 6-0, 6-2 in a little over an hour in the fourth-round fight.
Following the win, she sat down for a conversation with the media and talked about receiving wishes from her family members, including her grandmother Yvonne Lee Odom, over a conference call as part of a family tradition.
"She [grandmother] called me this morning and sang 'Happy Birthday', it's like a family thing, they all get on a voice call and sing 'Happy Birthday' to the person. She did that," Gauff said.
Further, the American wondered that her grandmother must have wished her on text as well but she was yet to scroll through the messages.
"I'm pretty sure she probably texted me too. Like you said, I have so many messages I need to respond to. So I'm, like, I'm sure she texted me. It's a lot of scrolling, I guess, because she's probably one of the first people to do so," Gauff said.
Coco Gauff will now face Yuan Yue from China to book herself a place in the semifinals of the Indian Wells for the first time in her career. Yuan overcome 11th seed Daria Kasatkina in her fourth-round effort on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals.
Coco Gauff: "I'm not a huge party, celebration person"
Further during her post-match press conference at Indian Wells Coco Gauff was asked whether she had any big plans for the birthday celebrations. She denied, saying that she wasn't someone who preferred a huge party celebration.
"Just dinner tonight, which is normal, I think, because I do play tomorrow. Yeah, usually afterwards, I'm not a huge party celebration person, so I don't have anything afterwards," the World No. 3 said.
Gauff further revealed that she would celebrate her birthday with her younger brothers, Codey and Cameron, before heading to Miami.
"I'll probably do maybe another dinner when I get home before Miami Open, just so my brothers can also celebrate it with me. Yeah, I think just open presents and answer text messages, and that's it," Gauff added.
The Miami Open qualifiers will start on March 17, with the main draw commencing on March 19.