PARIS (Reuters) – If fate had other plans, Coco Gauff would be a marine biologist or sports psychologist but the American teenager is glad to see tennis as her passion as she does not envision working a regular nine-to-five job.
Gauff, 18, moved into the second week of the French Open for a second consecutive year by beating Kaia Kanepi — who is twice her age — 6-3 6-4 in the third round on Friday.
The American had joked that playing tennis did not feel like a “proper job” and when asked to elaborate, she said: “When I think of a job, at least in the U.S., I think a 9:00 and 5:00 and people are dreading to go to work. I don’t dread what I do.
“Obviously there are people in the world that love their jobs and there are a lot of people that don’t like their jobs. I’m lucky my job is something I love to do, so I don’t view it as a job.”
As for what she would have chosen if she did have a job, Gauff added: “When I was younger I always wanted to be a marine biologist. As I got older I realised how much schoolwork that needs to do, so I kind of scratched that out.
“I would say I would pick a marine biologist or sports psychologist, but both of those fields take a lot of years in college and I’m not committed to that,” she said with a smile.
Gauff is the youngest player left in the draw and after beating Kanepi, who turns 37 in two weeks’ time, the teeanger said she hoped to be playing at the same level when reaching the Estonian’s age.
“It’s crazy she’s 36 … playing at this level. She’s still playing really well, good tennis,” Gauff said.
“If I still want to play (at 36), I hope I’m playing at that level… Nowadays it’s kind of rare — you see players finishing or playing their career on their own terms. I’m glad she’s able to play.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
