"I’m very stubborn, I like to argue, to prove people wrong" - Coco Gauff on how she feeds off the negativity directed at her on social media

Most tennis players might not like the negativity that is directed towards them on social media, but Coco Gauff is built different. The American, in fact, believes she "feeds off" such negativity, driven by her innate need to argue and prove people wrong.

In her victory speech at the US Open after winning her maiden Grand Slam title, the World No. 3 had extended her thanks to the people who did not believe in her, stating that they helped "add gas to her fire."

"Honestly, thank you to the people who didn't believe me. I mean, like a month ago I won a 500 title and people said I would stop at that. Two weeks ago, I won a 1000 title and people were saying that was the biggest I was gonna get. So three weeks later, I'm here with this trophy right now," Gauff said.

"I tried my best to carry this with grace and I've been doing my best. So honestly, to those who thought [they] were putting water in my fire, you're really adding gas to it. And now, I'm really burning so bright right now," she added.

Currently in action at the China Open, the teenager expanded on that, remarking that she has always been someone who draws inspiration from negativity. While Gauff admitted that she wouldn't recommend the same for everybody, she was decidedly proud of how she has been able to deal with online criticism throughout her career.

"I wouldn’t say negativity is something that’s welcome. It’s more, I don’t know, something that I draw inspiration from. I wouldn’t recommend everybody to do that," Coco Gauff said in an interview with Simon Cambers for Tennis Majors.

“Most of the time it’s negative things, but it’s not like life-threatening things. Some of those comments can get out of hand. But for the most part, I don’t know, it’s weird, maybe I feed from negativity. That’s weird. A lot of players don’t like it. For me, I’m very stubborn. I like to argue. I like to prove people wrong," she added.

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Coco Gauff: “I feel like my brain just works different"

Coco Gauff at the 2023 China Open

Interestingly, Coco Gauff still has filters on her Instagram to keep out the negativity as best as she can. At the same time, she pointed out that it was impossible to ignore them completely and that she sometimes sees all the things that are said about her -- both positive and negative.

The American No. 1 self-admittedly has a brain that "just works different" and keeps the criticism from affecting her too much.

“I feel like my brain just works different. I still have the filters on my Instagram. I don’t see anything. I see the comments.

“I used to not be on Twitter at all. I’m still really not on Twitter much. But sometimes you get caught up in the scroll. The way the page is, the accounts that you interact with, you see yourself. I interact with tennis a lot obviously, so those tweets come up. Obviously I see about myself, positive and negative," Coco Gauff said.