When Coco Gauff’s opponent at the French Open on Friday, 30th-seeded Dayana Yastremska, returned to the locker room in Court Philippe Chatrier, she pulled out her phone to study video clips of her 2-6, 4-6 loss to the American.

“I just was really curious what I did wrong,” explained Yastremska, a semi-finalist at the Australian Open in January.

To be sure, there were ways in which Gauff, the reigning US Open champion, could have been distracted, especially while letting a 5-2 lead in the second set slip away so much that, on three occasions, the score was a single point from 5-all.

“It was a little bit difficult, I think mentally, to stay focused and not got too mad,” Gauff said, “but I’m glad that I was able to push through.”

Ah, that skill of remaining in the moment is as much of a strength of Gauff’s game as her first serve, which reached 200 kph on Friday, and her speed, instincts and defence, which allowed her to win on a day she only accumulated eight of her 75 total points via winners.

So where does her focus come from?

Gauff chalks it up, at least in part, to breathing exercises she does every so often.

Her father, Corey, chalks it up to this: “Looking at how great people deal with pressure situations.” One example: The late Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

“She loves Kobe Bryant. He left a long list of lessons, (such as), Always focus on the craft.’ They asked Kobe: Do you love winning or do you hate losing?’ And he said he loved to figure things out,” Corey said. “If you approach sports that way, you find more enjoyment in it.”

There can be those challenges within a match, to be sure.

“I like to lay on the ground and just meditate, whether it’s for literally a minute or two or 10 or 15. It just kind of depends on the day or how I feel,” she said. “I think it helps to keep you grounded, because sometimes in these tournaments, the pressure can feel like a lot. Sometimes, you just lay on the ground, and you just think that ... there’s billions of people on this earth, and billions of people don’t even know who you are. So the matches aren’t as big as they feel sometimes.”

Her parents help provide perspective. “This would have been the end of her sophomore year of college,” Corey added. “She’s mature now, so she’s starting to educate herself on a lot of things. And, with all the things that are going on in life and in the world, just being more appreciative of the opportunity to be on the court.”