Miami Open: Coco Gauff battles imposter syndrome to reach semifinals for first time

Coco Gauff admitted she still suffers from imposter syndrome after beating Belinda Bencic to reach her first Miami Open semi-final.

The 22-year-old, a two-time Grand Slam champion, is the youngest American to reach the women’s singles semifinals at the tournament since Serena Williams in 2004, the year Gauff was born.

Gauff, ranked fourth in the world, won four consecutive games after dropping his serve in the deciding set to seal the victory 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in two hours and 15 minutes.

If Gauff reaches the final, she will beat former world number one Iga Swiatek and move to third place in the WTA rankings next week.

But after her victory over Swiss 12th seed Bencic, she said she was still learning “to believe that I belong where I am.”

“I think sometimes I can get impostor syndrome, and even when they talk about my accomplishments when I walk in or during the warm-up, it’s not like I’m like, ‘Oh, actually, you’ve got a good career,'” Goff said.

“But it doesn’t feel like that sometimes. When you work on things, especially with my serve, it’s like I shouldn’t be where I am. But tennis doesn’t lie, ball doesn’t lie, so I just have to believe in myself.”

“My coach was reminding me – remember who you are, you’re a good player. They put that in my head. Sometimes, I believe in it, and other moments, I don’t. I’m just trying to believe in it more.”