“I Was Shaking Off My Nerves” – Coco Gauff Recalls Her Match Against Venus Williams

Tennis phenom  Coco Gauff was one of the major breakthroughs in tennis during the 2019 season. She earned her first-ever spot in a Grand Slam’s main draw by qualifying for the Wimbledon Championships 2019. As the youngest player in the tournament, she opened against the oldest player of the WTA Tour Venus Williams. Also, Serena and Venus are the main characters who persuaded Coco to pick up a racquet and hit the ball harder and harder.

Recently Coco Gauff unveiled her emotions while she was playing the very first major match of her career. Before her groundbreaking performance on the Court Number one of SW19. Coco was trembling on the net during the coin toss of the match. She was highly strung to see five-time Wimbledon champion, Venus, on the other side of the net.

“I didn’t want her to think that her presence startled me. I knew at this moment [arriving for the match] that I wasn’t going to be the one intimidating her. I didn’t want to make eye contact with her [at the coin toss], so I was looking at the umpire the whole time and shaking off my nerves, but also, I got to see that I was playing one of the greatest players of all-time across the net,” she told ESPN.

“It was my first time on a stage so big” – Coco Gauff

“You can see me just trying to get all the nerves out before we started hitting. Normally, I’m not so nervous at the coin toss, but in this situation, I was nervous during this. You could tell that she’s been in this moment a hundred times, that whatever you’re doing isn’t going to phase her.”

During Wimbledon 2019, Coco defeated Venus in the opening round. In her third-round match, she saved a match point against Polona Hercog and earned her ticket to the second week of a Grand Slam.

Her third-round match was watched by more than five million people globally on a Friday evening.  Later, she lost to the eventual champion Simona Halep in the round of 16 of The Championships.

“I think throughout the warmup, I think I was just trying to get used to the environment because it was my first time on a stage so big… but you’re not really comfortable until you win a game. I didn’t want to shank the first ball,” she said.

In 2020, World Number 53 Coco Gauff gave another convincing performance at the Australian Open by once again defeating Venus in the opening round. Also, she went on to dethrone the defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round and later lost a close match to ultimate champion Sofia Kenin.