World No. 2 Coco Gauff recently offered a glimpse into her mental preparation and belief system for achieving her goals, specifically concerning a Roland Garros win. The American player shared via her social media stories a photograph of a piece of paper where she had written “win the tournament” eight times.
Gauff added a caption to the image, stating, “Don`t mind the handwriting, but I saw [athlete] Gabrielle Thomas doing this. Couldn`t help but do the same, lol.”
In a subsequent story, she posted a screenshot of a note saved on her phone. The text on the note read: “Yesterday I dreamt I would win Roland Garros. Don`t know if it`s true or if it will happen this year, but that`s what I dreamt.” The screenshot clearly showed the date the note was created: June 8, 2021. At that point in her career, Gauff was 17 years old and ranked outside the Top 20. In the 2021 French Open tournament, she reached the quarterfinals.
Commenting on this note from four years prior, Gauff emphasized her belief in visualization, writing: “Look at the date. If you can imagine something, you can do it.”
Rupert Hartwell