Coco Gauff might want to consider putting her teenage brother Codey on the payroll.
While she admitted the 16-year-old was going through “his cool phase now” by not keeping in regular touch while she was abroad, she attributed his sage advice for helping her to a maiden major at last year’s US Open.
The fourth seed takes to Rod Laver Arena on Sunday in her bid to reach a first Australian Open quarterfinal against Slam second-week debutante Magdalena Frech.
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Codey’s words of wisdom hold Gauff in good stead as she attempts the next step towards becoming the first woman since Naomi Osaka in 2019 to triumph at Flushing Meadows and Melbourne Park back-to-back.
“He told me pretend that you have to win three sets instead of two. If you put your mindset into the extra mile, then it seems easier I guess in a way,” Gauff said after she breezed past former childhood training partner Alycia Parks on Friday.
MORE: Is Gauff the hottest player in the game right now?
“He would say, ‘Okay, if you want to win the Grand Slam, say you have to win eight matches instead of seven. It's like changing your mindset so it feels further.”
“He said that … to me maybe a year ago. It always stuck with me about that because it's, like, I think at French Open I felt like it was so close, and I just got so tight. At US Open it just felt so far away from the very first point of the match literally until match point was over.”
After earning her first win over a top-20 player by defeating Caroline Garcia in the second round, Frech showed no mental letdown against qualifier Anastasia Zakharova for her first second-week showing at a Slam.
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The result ensured the 26-year-old Pole would make her top 50 debut after the Australian Open, but a maiden top-10 triumph would be required to extend her stay.
Gauff was not deviating from Codey’s advice ahead of the pair’s first-time clash.
“I think tricking your mind kind of relaxes the body because your mind controls your body,” she said. “You have to trick your mind a little bit. Obviously, you know what's real, but you have to trick it a little bit. Everybody has their [quirks] that makes them feel better. That made me feel better.”
Any first-week questions surrounding Novak Djokovic’s form were hastily silenced on Friday when the 10-time champion denied 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The straight-sets outing was a welcome relief for the 36-year-old, who earlier required four hours to quash qualifier Dino Prizmic and another four sets against Australian Alexei Popyrin.
With the victory over the Argentine, Djokovic became the only player in the Open Era to play at least 100 main-draw matches at each of the four majors ahead of a fourth-round meeting against 20th seed Adrian Mannarino.
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The 35-year-old Frenchman continued his late-blooming climb when he halted 16th seed Ben Shelton in a deciding set, the first since Domink Hrbaty in 2006 to claim his opening three matches in five sets. He has not beaten Djokovic in four attempts, although they have not crossed paths since 2017.
Australian Alex de Minaur has reached his second-week moment of reckoning against fifth seed Andrey Rublev without too much fuss.
MORE: Dominant De Minaur into second week
The 10th seed was in cruise control against young Italians Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli for a third straight fourth-round showing, but Rublev has lifted dramatically following a first-round escape against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
De Minaur holds a 3-2 advantage in the head-to-head, but the pair split two encounters last year.
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Women’s second seed Aryna Sabalenka hit the ground running and embraced her status as reigning women’s champion from the get-go this year. She joked she was attempting to “get closer” to Iga Swiatek, who dished out more bagel sets last year than any other woman.
The second seed has already notched three at AO2024, including a 6-0 6-0 thrashing of 28th seed Lesia Tsurenko in the third round, ahead of a meeting with familiar foe Amanda Anisimova.
In just her second event back following an eight-month absence to deal with burnout and her mental health, Anisimova is into the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the third time and will carry a 4-1 record into the pair’s clash.
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Greek seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas takes a 3-1 head-to-head advantage into his clash with American 12th seed Taylor Fritz, while fourth seed Jannik Sinner chases his third win from four clashes with last year’s semifinalist Karen Khachanov.
MORE: Tsitsipas sizzles, Fritz fights
Teenage phenomenon Mirra Andreeva aims to extend her unbeaten record against Czech ninth seed and former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova to 3-0 as she bids for a maiden Australian Open quarterfinal appearance.
Former junior champion Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine looks to pass a major fourth round for the first time when she meets 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia’s conqueror, qualifier Maria Timofeeva.