MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) \u2014 Coco Gauff wants those people posing questions to her about the teenagers breaking through at the Australian Open to remember one\u2026<\/b>
\nCoco Gauff wants those people posing questions to her about the teenagers breaking through at the Australian Open to remember one thing: She\u2019s 21.
The 18-year-old Iva Jovic will be playing No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park. That\u2019s after Sabalenka, a two-time champion in Australia, beat 19-year-old Vicky Mboko on Sunday in the fourth round.
\u201cThe way people ask the questions make it seem like I\u2019m way older than,\u201d the teenagers, Gauff said. \u201cI have been around longer, obviously, but yeah, they\u2019re always, like, \u2018Do you have any advice to give them?\u2019
\u201cI\u2019m, like, you guys, these are, like, my peers. We are the same. We are hanging out,\u201d she added for effect, smiling. \u201cWe\u2019re in the same age group.\u201d
Gauff has been on tour for more than five years \u2014 she made a stunning Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at Wimbledon against five-time champion Venus Williams when she was 15 \u2014 but she\u2019s still among the younger pros. She won her first major title at 19.
Seeded No. 3 and a two-time major winner, Gauff reached the quarterfinals in Australia for the third straight year with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win Sunday over No. 19 Karolina Muchova.
She\u2019s gone on to win the title each of the previous four times she\u2019s beaten Muchova, including the 2023 U.S. Open, her maiden Grand Slam title. When she was still a teenager.
Three teenagers played in fourth-round matches Sunday, but only Jovic advanced \u2014 6-0, 6-1 over Yulia Putintseva.
Mboko troubled Sabalenka in the second set but lost 6-1, 7-6 (1). In the last match of Day 8, the 18-year-old, eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva lost 6-2, 6-4 to 31-year-old Elina Svitolina, who reached the Grand Slam quarterfinals for the 14th time. That will be against Gauff, who is into the last 8 for the 10th time.
Gauff said she found it difficult when she was adjusting from juniors to the professional ranks, because some players don\u2019t talk or even say hi.
So, she makes a point of greeting the newbies, making them feel welcome.
\u201cJust saying hi or saying good luck,\u201d Gauff said. \u201cAnd then you start to talk and then you become friends, and it\u2019s cool.\u201d
In the case of Jovic, who is playing just her sixth Grand Slam tournament and making her first run past the second round, Gauff has a sister-like affinity.
\u201cYeah, she\u2019s the age of my little brother,\u201d Gauff said. \u201cI do feel older than them. That\u2019s for sure. I don\u2019t feel the exact same, but I don\u2019t feel as old as people make it seem.
\u201cI have talked to Iva a couple of times. I have never talked to her about advice or anything \u2014 I feel like she has such a good head on her shoulders. I don\u2019t think she needs that.\u201d
Gauff had few peers when she was starting out, saying it was \u201cvery lonely for me, honestly.\u201d
And while she\u2019s friends with the likes of Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova, sometimes she doesn\u2019t \u201cconnect\u201d on everything, so she still likes to hang out with a younger crowd sometimes.
\u201cWe\u2019re interested in the same things and stuff like that, but it\u2019s always funny when people ask me the question,\u201d about the up-and-coming teens, she said. \u201cI usually don\u2019t have anything to say, because I\u2019m still figuring out, just like they are.
\u201cSo it\u2019s great to have, like, more people of my age range doing better. I feel like maybe last two years on tour have been some of my happiest, even though maybe the tennis has been up and down, just because you see more friendly faces in the locker room.\u201d
Jovic is likely to be around for a while. She said last year she wanted to take on No. 1-ranked Sabalenka because she wanted to test her level. After her best run at a major to date, she gets the chance.
\u201cObviously, the Slams are where you want to do well,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing here in a Slam just gives me belief that I can be at the, you know, highest level of tennis. And, hopefully, be consistently having these results.\u201d
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