Coco Gauff admits that she is trying to appreciate her achievements more – despite always putting pressure on herself to “do more.”
Gauff only turned 20 back in March but has already scaled significant heights in her young career.
The US star is currently at a high of world No 2 in the WTA Rankings and captured her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open last summer.
She has won seven WTA singles titles in total and is a former French Open finalist and Australian Open semi-finalist, while she also famously reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as a 15-year-old.
Having already won a doubles major as well – alongside Katerina Siniakova at the French Open this year – Gauff has forged a hugely successful career.
But, ahead of this week’s Cincinnati Open title defence, and her US Open defence at the end of August, the American is under a little pressure after a recent dip in form.
However, ahead of the start of her Cincinnati campaign, she has revealed she is trying to focus more on what she has already achieved – knowing she has “time” for further success in the future.
She said: “I always put pressure on myself to do more, but sometimes it’s just nice to say I did well.
“I think I try to take a step back and enjoy what I’ve done so far and use that experience to push myself forward.
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“I’m 20 years old and I still have a long way to go. Most of my opponents in the top 10 are 24 and up, except for [Iga] Swiatek.
“I have time. I want to win now because I’m used to winning so early, but I think I can take a step back and realize that I have at least 10 years left in this sport.
“I want to enjoy it.”
Gauff won her first WTA 1000 singles title in Cincinnati a year ago, shocking world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-final, before beating Karolina Muchova in the final.
No woman has defended her Cincinnati crown since Serena Williams in 2015, and the world No 2 begins her campaign against world No 34 Yulia Putintseva.
Gauff will hope to reverse a recent run of form that has seen her lose her last four matches against top-50 opponents, and fail to reach the last eight of her last three events.
After falling to Jessica Pegula in the semi-final of the Berlin Open, she was beaten by Emma Navarro in round four of Wimbledon, and then by Donna Vekic in round three of the Olympics.
She also did not have an ideal start to her hard-court summer, falling to Diana Shnaider in round three of the Canadian Open last week.