‘I Wasn’t Ready for Serena’ – Coco Gauff Turns Vulnerable at the Mere Thought of Facing Her Childhood Idol

Coco Gauff couldn’t have asked for a better start to her Grand Slam career. In her first main-draw appearance at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, the American sensation defeated Venus Williams in the first round. Subsequently, she went on to reach the fourth round after entering the tournament as a qualifier. But even though it seemed like a dream start, Gauff has one major regret in her career.

American legend Serena Williams was nearing the end of her illustrious career at the same time Coco Gauff was rising. As a result, the two never faced off against each other on the tennis court. Here’s what Gauff had to say on this matter.

Coco Gauff gets candid about never playing Serena Williams

Although Gauff never played against the younger Williams sister, she has always looked up to her and idolized the former World Number 1. Recently, she appeared on the Vogue cover and and spoke to the magazine about not facing her idol even once. Coco Gauff said, “Playing Serena at Wimbledon, I don’t know, I feel like it would have messed up my story. I wasn’t ready for Serena at that time.”

Further, she went on to add, “If I had the perfect world I would have gotten to play both. But Serena retired and I played Venus twice. In my perfect world I would have played Venus once and Serena once.”

While Gauff has won both her matches against Venus Williams, she hasn’t faced Serena Williams in her career at all. Due to her playing style and early success, Gauff is often compared to the 23-time Grand Slam champion. But the tennis world will never know how the two would do when facing each other across the net at an official match.

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Meanwhile, Gauff had a successful last year, winning the US Open. During an interview later that year, she heaped praise on the Williams sisters.

Gauff is excited to carry on the legacy left by the Williams sisters

Apart from her US Open triumph, Coco Gauff also managed to win the Cincinnati Masters. Following her victory, she was full of praise for Serena and Venus Williams.

Gauff revealed, “I’m just happy that we’re able to still hold it down. The Williams sisters carried the country for so long. Not that Jess and I are the Williams sisters (laughs), but we did one thing that they didn’t do and they did a lot of things that we’ll probably never do, but that’s okay.” 

Gauff will be seen in action in Indian Wells, where she plays both singles as well as doubles. It’ll be interesting to see if she can find success here in front of her home crowd.