Coco Gauff Is Letting Herself ‘Have Fun Playing Tennis’ and It Pays Off with Biggest Singles Title Win Yet

The 19-year-old won the Mubadala Citi Open on Sunday, her first WTP 500 singles title and a major step forward after her first-round exit at Wimbledon last month

Coco Gauff is loosening up her tennis game — and it’s working.

The 19-year-old has made a point to “have fun playing tennis” in the month since her tough first-round exit from Wimbledon, and it paid off with a singles title at the Mubadala Citi Open on Sunday.

“After Wimbledon, I talked to a lot of people, and the main thing was they were, like, You need to have more fun on the court and allow yourself to have more fun. Because I think when I speak to different people in person, they realize that I actually have a personality more so what I look like on the court,” Gauff told reporters after she secured her spot in the final on Saturday.

“Now I'm just, like, I really want to have fun playing tennis, and I think I lost that for a little bit, but I'm really finding it,” she added.

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Gauff went on to beat Greece’s Maria Sakkari in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, and secure the singles title.

Technically speaking, it was her biggest win yet because it was a WTA 500 tournament — Gauff’s previous titles have been at the lower-level WTA 250 matches — but the tennis star would personally rank it as No. 3 in her history.

“I would say obviously the Grand Slam final [at the 2022 French Open] was No. 1. Then I would say my first title, No. 2. I'll put this at No. 3. Even though this is a higher level, but, you know, that first one is special for me,” she told reporters after the win.

No matter where it comes on the list, though, her Mubadala Citi Open title is a positive sign going into the next Grand Slam, the U.S. Open. Still, Gauff sees room for improvement.

“I would say I'm heading in the right direction,” she said. “Would I say I'm completely satisfied with how I'm playing? I mean, yes, in a way, but also no. Because I feel like I can always get better. Even in the serve, I served a lot better this week. It got me out of some crazy moments, but I do think that it can still improve.”

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And Gauff has plenty of time — though she’s one of the top-ranked U.S. women at No. 7, she’s still just a teenager with years to come in her career. She actually became the youngest player to ever win the Mubadala Citi Open, and the first teenager. Gauff praised the tournament and its host city of Washington, D.C. on Sunday.

“Being the youngest to win this tournament is pretty cool,” she said. “… I have played Cincinnati and I have played other tournaments in the U.S., … and there is just something about D.C. People love me here. The diversity that the city offers I think also plays a role and factor in that.”

It’s a sentiment shared by the Mubadala Citi Open’s owner, investor Mark Ein (who recently was part of the purchasing group, along with Josh Harris and Magic Johnson, to take over the Washington Commanders).

“The biggest compliment I get about the tournament, and this means so much to me, is people look around and they say, this is the best melting pot of our community I've ever seen,” Ein told PEOPLE. “It's literally everyone. It's every part of the community, every age, every race, every political persuasion. It's the one thing that brings people, everyone together.”

Gauff shared a similar thought on Sunday after her win.

“It's just really cool to see a lot of people from different backgrounds really loving tennis and supporting women's tennis.”

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