Coco Gauff: Gymnastics is the hardest sport mentally

Mental focus

“I think one of the hardest – if not the hardest mental sport – is gymnastics,” she said. “I feel like every event is hard, but just as a viewer, the balance beam event seems the hardest. And to have people screaming at you as you’re trying to focus; [and the beam is] not that wide. So I’m going to go with the mental strength of an Olympic gymnast.”

Hand-eye coordination

“I feel like I’m going to go with table tennis. I do think tennis is harder than table tennis, but on the other hand, table tennis is probably harder just because it’s so fast.”

Adaptability

“Okay. I am going to go with triathlon. You got to swim, you have to bike, have to run. You have to do all those. Be good at all of those things. So I’m going to go with triathlete.”

Teamwork

“Teamwork. Okay. Definitely not a tennis player. [Laughs.] Oh, I think I know where I’m going to go with this. I think I’m going to go with artistic swimming. I mean, they look like they’re clones of each other. And I feel like you have to have an amazing team chemistry to succeed at that sport.”

Creativity

“Oh, that has to be like an artistic sport. I think for creativity, I’m going to go with rhythmic gymnastics because I think they use the ball and the” – mimics ribbon – “I don’t know how to call it, but I think, yeah. I just feel like you have to be creative, just to make your routine stand out. Especially, you know, how competitive the sport is. So I’m going to go with that rhythmic gymnastics.”