"Carlos Alcaraz came late" - Coco Gauff reveals desire to immerse herself in Chinese culture & explore Forbidden City after brief visit with Spaniard

Coco Gauff, who didn't participate in the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, attended the press conference in Beijing ahead of the 2025 China Open. She recalled her off-court experiences in Beijing, including a brief visit to the Forbidden City she shared with Carlos Alcaraz.

In last year's tournament, Gauff said that she only spent 25 minutes in the Forbidden City because of Alcaraz, who arrived late. She said:

"The Forbidden City, I would like to do it again, the full experience. I only did it, like, 25 minutes with Carlos. He came late, so it got cut short. I didn’t do it that much (smiling)."

Last year, the Spaniard and Gauff visited Beijing for the first time. There, they visited the royal palace of ancient China. It's claimed that it was home to two dozen emperors. The two major winners posed for photographs, played tennis in the palace's courtyard and learned about the museum's artifacts. At the time, Alcaraz said (in the pre-tournament press conference):

“It was a great experience being there. I couldn't go around much last year. For me, it's great to see the culture here in China, see different things. Being there [in the Forbidden City] was a great experience for me. I'm really happy to be back here again in Beijing.”

This time around, Gauff is looking forward to a more deep down cultural experience, to understand the depth of Beijing's history.

"I think the culture is really cool and very different from anything," Gauff added. "Being from a country like the U.S., which is considered way younger than China. I think visiting a country with so much history behind it is really cool, just learning about the different dynasties, how everything is kind of intertwined, which we don't really have that in the U.S. because it is so much a melting pot, whereas here it's not so."

Coco Gauff provides ultimate endorsement recommending fans to visit Forbidden City

Continuing with her praise for the city's history, Coco Gauff endorsed visitors to go to the Forbidden City if they haven't already, testifying that she had a great time out there. She said:

"I think it's really cool just to do a deep dive. I would say if you're interested, really try duck here, it's really good, and go to the Forbidden City and some of the temples. I'm not a Beijing expert, but I had a great time and I definitely recommend people to try."

The China Open will commence on Wednesday, September 24, at the National Tennis Center in Beijing. Defending champion Coco Gauff headlines a star-studded field, including Iga Świątek, home favorite Zheng Qinwen and other top-ranked players.