PARIS – In some ways, Coco Gauff is very much a typical 18-year-old, striding into Court Philippe Chatrier for her French Open semifinal Thursday with earbuds in place, listening to a playlist she explained is “called ‘Rap’ – and I can’t say the next word.”
And in some ways, she is an old soul, anything but an average American teen – or an average professional tennis player.
So when she had wrapped up her 6-3, 6-1 victory over Italy’s Martina Trevisan to reach her first Grand Slam final, setting up a showdown against No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday, Gauff thought of the recent spate of mass shootings in her home country and wrote in marker on a courtside TV camera: “Peace. End gun violence.”
“I woke up this morning, and I saw there was another shooting, and I think it’s just crazy. I know that it’s getting more attention now. But … this has been an issue, at least in my head, for a long time, and I definitely think there needs to be some reform put into place,” Gauff said. “I think now especially, being 18, I’ve really been trying to educate myself around certain situations, because now I have the right to vote and I want to use that wisely.”
A willingness to speak out about issues of significance while taking a wide-lens view of the world reflect the sort of maturity that has served her well, especially with so much attention from such a young age. She won the French Open junior girls’ singles title at 14. She became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history and then beat Venus Williams on the way to the fourth round there at 15.