Coco Gauff, serving the life wisdom

On Tuesday night I headed to Wimbledon, naively armed with blankets, a ground sheet and layers to “camp” overnight in the queue. Turns out despite my weather check, it would of course rain, obviously, because it’s British Summertime and it’s Wimbledon! As I sat and ate my pizza and drank my G&T, friendly people tried to admire my optimism but also had a look of concern on their face.

Thankfully, some savvy American guys, who were (no pun intended) out canvassing the queue on a sales pitch, sold me a very nice tent. They had done the same naive thing the previous night, arrived unprepared, and they were sold a once used tent, price tag still on from someone who’d stayed the night before. They sold onto me, at a great price, the now twice used tent, and it was clean, excellently waterproof and I was warm and dry. I had a total of 30 mins sleep, turns out it’s noisy with that many people joining a queue throughout the night, but was it worth it…100%! Number 769 in the queue, I picked Court 1, I really wanted to watch Gauff and Raducanu, they did not disappoint.

Not only did they play entertaining and at times stunning tennis, but they also gave such insightful, interviews post-match. Coco, especially astounded me with the most brilliant insight for a 20-year-old, I’m quite confident she’d not be so unprepared for camping. What she shared post-match about overcoming adversity and perspective is gold dust for young athletes, well for anyone really, and I’ll just let her speak and leave the wisdom with you…

Interviewer: “Last year you mentioned that you were in a dark place after what happened in the first round of Wimbledon. This year you seem to be playing with a lightness of touch, even though you have got the burden of expectation of having won the U.S. open last year?”

“Yeah, I think overall I just learnt about life a lot, which I guess is what you do as you get older. But, umm, I umm, I don’t know I just realised, yes, what I do I am very passionate about, but it’s not ever that serious.

And sometimes the world can make you feel like there’s so much pressure, there’s so much expectation. But at the end of the game (?day) it’s a game, it’s sport, and I am very privileged and honoured to be out here playing in front of you guys.”