"So dramatic" - Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe practice together in fun session at Indian Wells
Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe took to the main court at Indian Wells to practice together last night (March 6). Suffice to say, the duo, who share a great camaraderie, had a lot of fun training together, while also making each other work very hard in what was an intense tennis sparring session.
Gauff and Tiafoe are among the biggest American hopes at Indian Wells this year. While Tiafoe will aim to become the second consecutive American male player to win the Masters 1000 event in California, Gauff will be trying to become the first American woman to win the event since Serena Williams in 2001.
On Monday, the duo were at Stadium 1 at Indian Wells for a night-time practice session. Gauff joked that her "legs were done" while chasing a drop shot from Tiafoe at the end of a high-intensity rally, as the good friends shared some of the most fun moments from their practice session.
"So dramatic," Gauff wrote on Instagram, referring her and Tiafoe's rallies.
"Night sesh tones @bigfoe1998," Gauff wrote, sharing another moment from the practice session.
"Keep letting you break me down," Tiafoe wrote to Gauff.
The sixth-seeded Gauff will open her 2023 Indian Wells campaign against a qualifier, while 14th seed Tiafoe will kickstart his campaign against either Marcos Giron or Aleksandar Kovacevic. 18-year-old Gauff reached the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, while Tiafoe last played at the Mexican Open where he reached the quarterfinals.
"Definitely it puts pressure on you, I never label myself that" - Coco Gauff on handling the tag of "future of women's tennis"
Coco Gauff recently opened up about dealing with the pressure of expectations as she is widely regarded as the 'future superstar' of women's tennis. The 18-year-old, who has already achieved great heights in both singles and doubles tennis at the professional level, admitted that the pressure gets to her. She also clarified that she never herself wanted to be labeled as the 'future of women's tennis' and only ever aimed to become the best version of herself.
"Definitely it puts pressure on you," Gauff said in a press conference during the Dubai Tennis Championships. "I never label myself that. I always said I just want to be the best that I can be."
"It definitely adds pressure to it, especially when you have these losses, people say things about you, the rest of your life," she added.
The singles world No. 6 and doubles world No. 3 has had an impressive start to the season, having already won a singles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland and a doubles title (partnering with Jessica Pegula) at the Qatar Open in Doha.