Coco Gauff Uses ‘Nice Guy’ Analogy to Explain Her Complicated Relationship with Clay

Coco Gauff has so far won two singles titles on clay, including last year's French Open.

Coco Gauff Uses ‘Nice Guy’ Analogy to Explain Her Complicated Relationship with Clay

Coco Gauff (Image via X/Coco Gauff)

In Short
  • Coco Gauff is preparing for the Madrid Open, seeking her first title of the season after a runner-up finish at the Miami Open.
  • Gauff describes her relationship with clay as complicated, using a "nice guy" analogy to express mixed feelings despite her successes on the surface.
  • She has won 11 singles titles in her career, including two on clay, and reached her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros in 2022.

Coco Gauff is in Madrid, gearing up for the fifth WTA 1000 of the season. Gauff will be chasing her first title of the season in the tournament. This year, she has so far played one final at the Miami Open. The 21-year-old suffered a three-set defeat at the hands of World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

After the Sunshine Double events, Gauff kicked off her campaign on clay at the Stuttgart Open, where she lost to eventual runner-up Karolina Muchova. Gauff has so far clinched 11 singles titles, two of which came on clay.

Ahead of kick-starting her campaign in Madrid, Gauff sat for an interview with Tennis Channel, during which she discussed her complicated relationship with clay with a “nice guy” analogy.

You know you have a guy, and they just treat you good and do everything right, but it’s still like…just not there. That’s how I feel about clay. Like, I have great results on clay. I do well on clay, but my socks get dirty, like I have to take off my shoes, like before I get in my room.

She lifted her career’s second title at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open, a WTA 250 tournament on clay. In 2018, Gauff won her first junior title at the French Open. She also played her first Grand Slam singles final at Roland Garros back in 2022, but failed to defeat the now six-time Grand Slam champion, Iga Swiatek.

Then in 2024, Gauff and Katerina Siniakova beat the pair of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani in the French Open doubles final. And last year, Gauff, who clinched her career’s first Grand Slam single title by beating Aryna Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open final, ended her Major drought by upsetting the Belarusian in the French Open final.

It’s just a lot of things that I also don’t like about it, but my career on clay has always been the first of everything…junior title there, my first Grand Slam final, my first doubles Grand Slam. So it’s just one of those guys, it’s just, you know, maybe nice guys finish last.

Coco Gauff added

Gauff will start her Madrid Open campaign against Leolia Jeanjean or Oksana Selekhmeteva. Last year in the tournament, she reached the final but failed to go past Sabalenka. Gauff also made the final of the Italian Open and lost the title to home favorite Paolini.

Coco Gauff says Eva Lys has great potential

Coco Gauff practiced with Eva Lys in Stuttgart. During the tournament, Elina Svitolina dismantled the German ace in the round of 16. During a press conference, the 22-year-old said Lys has a lot of potential to become one of the top players.

Eva Lys
Eva Lys (via Tennis World USA)

Yeah, Eva Lys is a great player, great person. Someone I got to know over the course since Australian Open. That’s been really cool. It’s our first time practicing together. Yeah, I think she’s a great player. One thing I noticed today, she holds the baseline really well. She stands really close. Doesn’t really miss a lot from it. Strokes are super clean. She has a lot of potential.

The 24-year-old has already played her Madrid Open match. In the first round, Zhang Shuai registered a 6-4, 6-3 victory over her.

Lys, who reached her career-best No.39 ranking, played in the Madrid Open main draw for the second time. In WTA 1000 events, she produced her best performance when she reached the quarterfinals of the 2025 China Open.

She skipped this year’s Indian Wells and the Qatar Open due to an injury. Lys will next be playing the Italian Open, where last year, Elena Rybakina knocked her out in the second round.

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