Gauff relaxed as she prepares for Wimbledon return

American says she is not feeling any pressure to repeat her heroics when she reached the fourth round as a 15-year-old

LONDON:

Coco Gauff returns to the scene of her Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon later this month but the American says she is not feeling any pressure to repeat her heroics of 2019 when she reached the fourth round as a 15-year-old.

Gauff, who lost to eventual champion Simona Halep two years ago, will play at the Eastbourne International as she prepares for another tilt at Wimbledon, which was cancelled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now 17 and ranked world No. 23, Gauff said her Wimbledon debut felt like "a long time ago".

"People might expect me to feel pressure going into it, but I don't really feel any pressure going into it," said Gauff, who reached her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the French Open earlier this month before losing to Barbora Krejcikova.

"I'm just going to have fun and enjoy it. I don't really want to push myself to compare my result this year with last time.

"I want to do better than when I first went there but it was the start of everything. I'm thankful for that experience and it definitely helped me as a player and a person."

Wimbledon begins on June 28.