Stars Galore! American tennis star Coco Gauff is one of the four female athletes nominated for the top prize at this year’s ESPY Awards. Tennis legend, Serena Williams hosted the event in Los Angeles on July 11. During the event, Williams even dedicated a song, “She could be my tennis ball,” to her former rival and Russian tennis icon Maria Sharapova. She stunned the audience with her insane rapping skills and even Coco Gauff couldn’t resist showcasing her admiration for this multi-talented tennis star. Gauff is a big fan of Serena Williams!

The 20-year-old tennis player recently put up a post on her X (formerly Twitter) account to heap praise on Serena Williams. She wrote, “Hahaha I am loving @serenawilliams hosting the #ESPYS24.” Even Alexis Ohanian and their 6-year-old daughter were seen at the same venue posing for a family photo on the red carpet. It’ll be interesting to see how they react to Serena Williams’ rapping skill.

In September 2018, we saw Ohanian and Williams joining hands doing enjoying their karaoke night. He shared the picture on his Instagram with the caption, “Celebrating my favorite karaoke partner.” Do you want him now to celebrate his favorite rapping partner? To rap a song, one needs first to find a story and a message they want to address and then build a rhythm around it. In the women’s tennis world, perhaps there are no such stories as big as the story of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

Both of these stars have met each other 22 times in their careers, but Serena Williams has a staggering 20-2 record over the Russian. Despite all the intense battles over the years, they share a strong bond and mutual respect between them. Earlier this year saw a glimpse of it during the Met Gala when Maria Sharapova was heard singing, “Serena, where are you?” when she failed to find her in that event. Even Serena Williams also spoke about their bonding later on during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar.

She revealed, “We always love seeing each other. At the Met Gala, I literally was looking for her. I was like, “Where’s Maria? Where is she at?” I think she’s a super cool girl.” Talking about cool girls in tennis of this current era, can you name one other than Coco Gauff? We saw her ecstatic reaction upon finding Serena Williams’ exceptional singing skills, but did you know the 23-time Grand Slam champion is her childhood idol?

Coco Gauff says Serena Williams inspired her to “dream big”

Coco Gauff has achieved a lot in this short span of her career, but still, there is a regret that she has to carry forward for the rest of her life. She regrets not getting the chance to play with her idol, Serena Williams. However, she’s happy to just be a “product of her legacy” and be out there for American tennis.

“Serena is Serena. She’s the GOAT. I’d hope to do half of what she did. But I’m not gonna compare myself to her,” Gauff stated. After her SF exit from the 2024 AO, Coco Gauff revealed that she had seen how Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova had not let one match define their careers. All she now wants is to reach the same heights but on her own route.

Reflecting more on his admiration for Williams, she once said, “I think she is the one and true and only goat. But I think just being inspired by her, it just allowed me to make my dreams as limitless as possible. I was taught from a young age to make your dreams as big as possible.” Seeing her tennis idol with a mic in hand instead of a racquet is surely a moment to cherish for this young American tennis star.