Coco Gauff: "I could highly relate" to Alysa Liu's road to Olympic triumph

American figure skater Alysa Liu's podium-topping performance at the Milano-Cortina Olympics last month, with the 20-year-old's journey from burnt-out teenage prodigy, who stepped away from her sport to live life on her terms, to an empowered adult resonating with many across the globe.

Coco Gauff was one of those people. The two-time Grand Slam champion said ahead of the BNP Paribas Open that she could "highly relate" to Liu's journey also as "someone who was very young put into a sport."

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"I think her whole story was super inspiring," Gauff said, referring to the parallels between the two. Gauff made her WTA tour-level debut at age 14, became a global superstar by age 15, while Liu set several "youngest-ever" records in figure skating with back-to-back national championships at ages 13 and 14. But in 2022, she retired, saying that she achieved all of her goals amidst a high-pressure youth.

Gauff said that while she and Liu haven't had identical experiences, they are kindred spirits.

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"I wouldn't say I have faced burnout, but there are times you're mentally just tired of it and you feel like you're doing stuff and you don't know why," she said. "So I definitely could relate to her whole story. I was happy to see her be that voice saying the unsaid things that athletes think but are maybe scared to say."

Gauff also had appreciation for the press conference eloquence of freestyle skier Eileen Gu, as well as the dramatic gold-medal wins for both the U.S. men's and women's hockey team.

"Eileen Gu is someone I follow on Instagram and we've interacted. I've never met her, but she speaks so well," Gauff said. "Obviously she's super smart. I think she's one of those people you don't want your parents to find out about because she's so accomplished, and they're, like, 'What are you doing?' I could be Grand Slam winner. And my mom is, like, 'She graduated Stanford and did all this stuff.'

"It was unfortunate to see everything that went on with Lindsey [Vonn], but I think still for her to take that leap of faith was still inspiring.

"There were a few stories that I followed. And obviously the hockey, women's and men's hockey was really cool to watch. I had never watched hockey before, but I was watching and I was excited. Maybe I'll get into it."

Will Gauff have her own golden moment with a maiden victory in Tennis Paradise?