Coco Gauff laughs off premature doubles celebration, meets Gronk at US Open

TENNIS CHANNEL LIVE: Gauff shook off a slow start to kick off her 2023 US Open campaign

NEW YORK—We got there in the end!

Coco Gauff is so used to winning these days, it’s become a tough habit for the young American to break as she went from singles to doubles on Wednesday at the US Open.

Still, the 19-year-old will be wary of getting too ahead of herself after a premature celebration had her and partner Jessica Pegula in stitches as they actually stood a full game from knocking out fellow Americans Quinn Gleason and Elizabeth Mandlik.

As Gauff later tweeted, it's not the first time Gauff and Pegula have made a memeable moment on the doubles court:

Gauff recovered after a good laugh and won the extra game to keep herself and Pegula in the hunt for a rare US Open double—delighting celebrity fans like Jimmy Butler and Rob Gronkowski.

Gronk even got a selfie with the No. 6 seed after her match.

“I mean, he's given me, like, the generic, like keep working hard, everything,” Gauff said of advice she’s gotten from Butler a basketball icon and big-time tennis fan. “Him and my mom spoke for a long time three or four days ago when he was here for the practices.

“I asked her what he said obviously because I want to know. He was like, he can really see the joy in me again in playing and enjoying the competition, and that I should continue to do that.

And then watching him, you know, I learned a lot watching him, you know, everybody counting him out. I don't think anybody when he was playing college would have thought he would have been the player he is today leading a franchise to the NBA Finals.

“I think he's just one of those athletes the mentality makes his game even better,” she added. “You have people that are talented and don't have the mentality. I think he has the talent and the mentality. It's just taking him even further. That's something I learned from. And honestly, that's part of the reason I would say that switch I had in the last couple weeks. I mean, people think some incredible thing happened. But realistically between two weeks or between Wimbledon and the next tournament I played nothing could have really changed that much. It was really just the mental thing. I think that's what I learned from watching Jimmy compete over the years.”

From sporting stars to the Obamas, which celebrities will be cheering Gauff on next as she closes in on a spot in the US Open’s second week?