Coco Gauff Achieves What Serena Williams and Venus Williams Failed to Do in Astounding French Open Feat

Coco Gauff has been writing history from the moment she began her professional journey. Gauff was just 14 years old when she won her first pro match and has been unstoppable on the tennis court since then. The French Open this year has already seen her enter the record books, and she added another accolade to her name, surpassing Serena and Venus Williams.

Gauff eased past Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto  6-1, 6-2 on Sunday, to book her place in the last eight. And with it she cemented her place in history.

On their official Instagram account, the US Open has recently shared the landmark achieved by Gauff at the mere age of 20. The world no. 3 would not be playing her 1st French Open quarter-final but her fourth! The US Open captioned the post, ” Tradition at this point.” This would be Gauff’s fourth straight quarterfinal appearance at the Roland Garros. And the fact that she is the only American women tennis star in the Open Era to achieve this feat before turning 21, speaks volumes. However, this was not the only piece of history she made.

With the win over Cocciaretto, Gauff has 19 wins at the French Open during her first five appearances at the event, which is behind only tennis legends Chris Evert (29) and Serena Williams (21).

Earlier, after overcoming Dayana Yastremska in the third round, she become the second American in the Open Era to reach four consecutive Women’s Singles R16s at Roland Garros before the age of 21. The first American to achieve this feat being Jennifer Capriati, who did it from 1990-1993.

Gauff’s career will always be linked with the Williams name. It was against Venus Williams that a 15-year old Gauff announced her arrival at the Wimbledon, beating her more illustrious opponent. She has also often mentioned that the Williams sisters are her idols and remains grateful to them. But now Gauff is scripting her own legacy, and this is not the first time she has eclipsed Serena Williams.

Earlier this year, in the Australian Open she surpassed by Serena by becoming the first American teenager to reach the last 16 three times in the Slam Down Under.

It’s not unknown to tennis fans how wholeheartedly Gauff tries to follow in the footsteps of Serena Williams. After defeating Avdeeva in this French Open she said, “I just want to win as many slams as I can. Watching Serena Williams, she’s the greatest of all time, really inspires me to set my dreams as out there as possible.”

And Gauff couldn’t be more happy about her progress at the French Open, as she quoted in the recent post-match interview, “I am really happy with how everything has been going.” What is the young American tennis star so giddy about?

Coco Gauff is all hearts after a reunion with an old team member

The world no.3 has dominated her initial rounds at the Roland Garros. Despite the successful start, it could get unnerving for both the athlete and their team. And hence, any extra help is not only appreciated but also welcomed. When that help culminates into a reunion, it’s certainly a delight! Sometime back, Jean-Christophe Faurel returned to Coco Gauff’s camp, his second stint after collaborating in 2019 and the 20-year-old has been excited about it.

As she detailed her practice sessions under her coaches, she said, ” They collaborate on, you know, the things that I need to work on. JC does a lot of day-to-day, you know, things, because, you know, Brad isn’t at every single tournament, and so he(Jean) does a lot of day-to-day drills, like, you know, being there day-to-day.” 

Coco Gauff is all geared up to add another Grand Slam to her list. She has an uphill battle to get to the top, as Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina, the Big 3 of this calendar year, have sailed through their initial rounds.

Do you think Coco Gauff would be able to take the trophy this time? Will she get fourth time lucky? Let us know in the comments!