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Coco Gauff reveals how Serena & Venus Williams ‘made a difference’ to her as young player
Coco Gauff reveals how Serena & Venus Williams ‘made a difference’ to her as young player
Coco Gauff dreams of emulating Serena Williams
Coco Gauff wants to emulate her ‘mentor and friend’ Serena Williams
Coco Gauff has opened up about how Serena and Venus Williams “made a difference” to her at the start of her burgeoning tennis career.
American star Gauff has already achieved huge success on the court, winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in 2023 and reaching a career-high of world No 2 this summer.
However, the 20-year-old – the winner of eight WTA singles titles – has opened up in a video produced by Baker Tilly about how “difficult” it was to navigate the world of tennis during her youth.
Speaking in the video, Gauff revealed how being black in the sport can me you “stick out like a sore thumb” – but credited sporting icons Serena and Venus for the impact they made on her.
“What makes me unique? I mean we’re all one of one, so we’re all unique,” said the world No 3.
“There’s never going to be another one of me and there’s never going to be another one of anybody.
“That’s a cool thing to think about… Finding myself was difficult. Being Black in tennis is, sometimes you do stick out like a sore thumb.
“Like in the Black community, tennis is not a huge thing. Nobody really knew anything about it. I had mentioned that I play tennis but nobody cared.
“But I feel like for me, having role models like Serena and Venus to look up to made a difference.
“Honestly, I just remember watching Venus at the US Open. My dad got second-row tickets and we were so close and that was a cool thing.
“That’s what pushes me to keep going. Just because the sport is predominantly white, you believe you can do that passion when you see somebody that looks like you being successful.
“Hopefully, I can be that belief for somebody else.”
Gauff has openly spoken about the Williamses’ influence on her in the past.
She famously played doubles with Venus at the French Open in 2021 – after beating her in the opening round of Wimbledon as a 15-year-old in 2019.
Venus won seven Grand Slam singles titles during her career while Serena won an Open Era WTA record of 23 major singles titles, with the pair also combining to win 14 Grand Slam doubles titles.
