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The 18-year-old, who dispatched compatriot Sloane Stephens 7-5 6-2
on Tuesday, graduated from high school last month while preparing
for Roland Garros and celebrated by posing in front of the Eiffel
Tower.
"Was graduating tougher? Yes, because I know how hard it was to do
school and play tennis on the road," Gauff said in an on-court
interview.
"Other players in general get out of sight with life and we think
tennis is the most important thing in the world. It is not. So
getting my high school diploma meant a lot to me."
The world number 23 reached the quarter-finals in Paris last year
but went one better this time as she easily negated Stephens's power
game to set up a meeting with Italy's Martina Trevisan in the last
four.
Gauff, who shot into the limelight when at the age of 15 she became
the youngest female player to qualify for Wimbledon, sent a message
to other young players, urging them to stop focusing solely on
results.
"Your results or your job or how much money you make doesn't define
you as a person. As long as you love yourself, it doesn't matter
what anyone else thinks," she said.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
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