{"id":100650,"date":"2025-05-14T11:28:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T11:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/100650\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T11:28:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T11:28:14","slug":"coco-gauffs-unlikely-friendship-with-warriors-star-jimmy-butler-turned-around-her-tennis-career-after-stunning-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/100650\/","title":{"rendered":"Coco Gauff’s unlikely friendship with Warriors star Jimmy Butler turned around her tennis career after stunning defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Coco Gauff needed a helping hand, an unlikely NBA star appeared.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gauff<\/a> has had a poor start to 2025 but has bounced back to enjoy her best tennis during the clay swing. The last time she had a bit of a slump, a surprise friendship sparked a turnaround in form.<\/p>\n

\"Coco<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Coco Gauff has already put her 2023 Wimbledon disappointment in the pastCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n

After losing in the quarterfinals to Padula Badosa at the Australian Open<\/a> in January, Gauff lost back-to-back first-round matches at the Qatar Open and Dubai Championships.<\/a><\/p>\n

The sunshine double saw a slight improvement, but she wasn’t able to get past the third round at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.<\/p>\n

Now, in another quarterfinal, after reaching the same feat in Stuttgart and making the Madrid Open final, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka<\/a>, Gauff is getting back to her best<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When the World No.3 was in a slump back in 2023, it was Jimmy Butler who gave the 21-year-old much-needed perspective. <\/p>\n

Few NBA<\/a> fans knew that Butler was a serious tennis lover.<\/p>\n

After a poor 2023 Wimbledon<\/a>, in which Gauff lost to Sofia Kenin in the first round, Butler spent time at the next Grand Slam, the U.S. Open, with the tennis star and connected with her. <\/p>\n

“He has that mentality really of, you know, no matter what the odds are against him, he’s gonna give it his all,” Gauff said at the time.<\/a><\/p>\n

“I think he’s just one of those athletes [where] the mentality makes his game even better. 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. <\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

After Butler championed Gauff, she shook off her Wimbledon first-round stunner to triumph at the US Open<\/a> and win her first major.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Jimmy Butler is a man of many talentsCredit: Getty\"Justin<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Justin Bieber and Butler watched the same tennis matchCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n

“I have been focusing more on myself and my expectations of myself,” Gauff said<\/a>. “I really believe that now I have the maturity and ability to do it.\u00e2\u20ac\u00a0<\/p>\n

Butler has diverse interests<\/a>, including dominoes, coffee and country music.<\/p>\n

But he’s also a six-time All-Star who carried the Miami Heat<\/a> to the NBA Finals and has made five All-Defensive teams.<\/p>\n

Despite not being drafted until the end of the first round in 2011, 35-year-old Butler has become one of the NBA’s most respected players.<\/p>\n

Gauff was also inspired by his dedication and focus, which included overcoming homelessness.<\/a><\/p>\n

“I just love the competition aspect of (tennis),” Butler said. “It’s like 1-on-1 competition at its finest. I have a lot of friends that I’m fans of.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Jimmy Butler is known to be a big tennis fanCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

“(Coco) is so emotional in a good way. She’s a champion and I love that she’s from the city that I work in. <\/p>\n

“I just love to … support her, so I want her to win every single time.”<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2025, Gauff is a ten-time title winner and gone from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

She is currently in the quarterfinals at Rome, where she will face teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Coco Gauff needed a helping hand, an unlikely NBA star appeared. Gauff has had a poor start…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[20298,12048,15978,6740,46743,6746,6750,46744,46745,46747,26338,25564,46742,13698,257,46746,12056,38960,6742,8100,79,46749,1068,46748,12050,16,15,5067,5068],"class_list":{"0":"post-100650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-20298","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-champion","11":"tag-coco-gauff","12":"tag-coco-gauff-clay-season","13":"tag-coco-gauff-next-match","14":"tag-coco-gauff-results","15":"tag-coco-gauff-wta","16":"tag-gauff-tennis-schedule","17":"tag-grand-slam","18":"tag-grass","19":"tag-italian-open","20":"tag-jimmy-butler","21":"tag-lebron-james","22":"tag-london","23":"tag-miami-heat","24":"tag-nba","25":"tag-rome-open","26":"tag-sofia-kenin","27":"tag-sonay-kartal","28":"tag-sports","29":"tag-sw19","30":"tag-tennis","31":"tag-third-round","32":"tag-tournament","33":"tag-uk","34":"tag-united-kingdom","35":"tag-us-open","36":"tag-wimbledon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114505954508194266","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}