At 21, Coco Gauff has enjoyed hanging out with emerging teens at Australian Open

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Coco Gauff wants those people posing questions to her about the teenagers breaking through at the Australian Open to remember one thing: She’s 21.

The 18-year-old Iva Jovic will be playing No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park. That's after Sabalenka, a two-time champion in Australia, beat 19-year-old Vicky Mboko on Sunday in the fourth round.

“The way people ask the questions make it seem like I’m way older than,” the teenagers, Gauff said. “I have been around longer, obviously, but yeah, they’re always, like, ‘Do you have any advice to give them?’

“I’m, like, you guys, these are, like, my peers. We are the same. We are hanging out,” she added for effect, smiling. “We’re in the same age group.”

Gauff has been on tour for more than five years — she made a stunning Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at Wimbledon against five-time champion Venus Williams when she was 15 — but she's still among the younger pros. She won her first major title at 19.

Seeded No. 3 and a two-time major winner, Gauff reached the quarterfinals in Australia for the third straight year with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win Sunday over No. 19 Karolina Muchova.

She's gone on to win the title each of the previous four times she's beaten Muchova, including the 2023 U.S. Open, her maiden Grand Slam title. When she was still a teenager.

Three teenagers played in fourth-round matches Sunday, but only Jovic advanced — 6-0, 6-1 over Yulia Putintseva.

Mboko troubled Sabalenka in the second set but lost 6-1, 7-6 (1). In the last match of Day 8, the 18-year-old, eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva lost 6-2, 6-4 to 31-year-old Elina Svitolina, who reached the Grand Slam quarterfinals for the 14th time. That will be against Gauff, who is into the last 8 for the 10th time.

Gauff said she found it difficult when she was adjusting from juniors to the professional ranks, because some players don't talk or even say hi.

So, she makes a point of greeting the newbies, making them feel welcome.

“Just saying hi or saying good luck," Gauff said. "And then you start to talk and then you become friends, and it’s cool.”

In the case of Jovic, who is playing just her sixth Grand Slam tournament and making her first run past the second round, Gauff has a sister-like affinity.

“Yeah, she’s the age of my little brother,” Gauff said. "I do feel older than them. That’s for sure. I don’t feel the exact same, but I don’t feel as old as people make it seem.

“I have talked to Iva a couple of times. I have never talked to her about advice or anything — I feel like she has such a good head on her shoulders. I don’t think she needs that.”

Gauff had few peers when she was starting out, saying it was “very lonely for me, honestly.”

And while she's friends with the likes of Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova, sometimes she doesn't “connect” on everything, so she still likes to hang out with a younger crowd sometimes.

“We’re interested in the same things and stuff like that, but it’s always funny when people ask me the question," about the up-and-coming teens, she said. "I usually don’t have anything to say, because I’m still figuring out, just like they are.

“So it’s great to have, like, more people of my age range doing better. I feel like maybe last two years on tour have been some of my happiest, even though maybe the tennis has been up and down, just because you see more friendly faces in the locker room.”

Jovic is likely to be around for a while. She said last year she wanted to take on No. 1-ranked Sabalenka because she wanted to test her level. After her best run at a major to date, she gets the chance.

“Obviously, the Slams are where you want to do well," she said. “Being here in a Slam just gives me belief that I can be at the, you know, highest level of tennis. And, hopefully, be consistently having these results.”

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