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Coco Gauff has said that she knew the Miami Heat would reach the NBA Finals because Jimmy Butler told her so, adding that his message inspired her.
Miami star Butler offered Gauff tickets to watch the finals in April, with the Heat fresh off a loss to the Atlanta Hawks and still needing to secure their spot in the playoffs.
Most valuable player of the Eastern Conference finals, Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Caleb Martin chipped in with 26 points and ten rebounds to help the Heat overcome the Boston Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 and advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons.
Though the chances of making it to the NBA finals were slim, Gauff knew that the Heat would find themselves in the summit clash because of Butler's belief. Gauff said that Butler exuded confidence by asking her to let him know should she want some tickets for her family "when," and not "if" the Miami Heat make the finals.
"Everybody is like we have a three percent chance of making the finals, but when he sent me that, I knew we were making the finals because he didn't say 'if we make the finals,' he said 'when we make the finals," Gauff said.
Coco Gauff further lauded Butler's positive mindset about reaching the finals before even qualifying for the playoffs.
“He pretty much said we were going to the finals before we even qualified for the playoffs, and I just really like that mentality of him," the 19-year-old added.
Jimmy Butler makes good on his promise to Coco Gauff, guides Miami Heat to NBA Finals
Coco Gauff had more than her first-round match against Spain's Rebeka Masarova when she woke up on Tuesday (May 30). A finalist in Paris last year, Gauff was hours away from a replay of the Auckland final in January against the Spaniard. She wanted to know if Miami Heat won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Florida native saw that the Heat did indeed close out the game, winning the best-of-seven series 4-3 against the Boston Celtics. After blowing a 3-0 lead in the series, Miami won Game 7 103-84 to advance to the NBA Finals.
Regarding her French Open quest, Coco Gauff recovered from an error-strewn first-round game to prevail 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 over Masarova. Gauff looked uncomfortable early on, with her forehand letting her down.
The World No. 71 Masarova took advantage of Gauff's discomfort to dominate the opening set and looked on course to cause an upset. But 19-year-old Gauff turned things around on a sunlit Court Suzanne Lenglen and reeled off seven games in a row from 1-1 in the second set to take the driver's seat.
Toward the end, Coco Gauff played the kind of tennis that netted her a maiden Grand Slam final appearance a year ago. However, Masarova's 43 unforced errors were also instrumental in her victory. Gauff moves to the second round, where she will take on Austrian Julia Grabher.
