If you are a tennis fan, you definitely know that one of the biggest reasons why Coco Gauff started playing tennis in the first place is Serena Williams. She is the biggest inspiration behind the 19-year-old’s shining tennis career. Not only that, even after the American tennis legend’s retirement, she is trying her best to follow in her footsteps and achieve great things just like her. But even after performing exceptionally at such a young age, can the world’s fifth-ranked tennis player be the next Serena Williams?

We have got the answer covered for you. Recently, a well-known tennis pundit, Pete Bodo, who has looked at the sport for several years, made a crucial probe into what the 19-year-old should do if she wants to be titled the next Serena Williams.

What can make Coco Gauff the next Serena Williams?

Pete Bodo previously worked with the legendary tennis player, Pete Sampras. And he is also the author of the 14-time Grand Slam Champions’ biography, A Champion’s Mind. The 73-year-old sportswriter recently appeared on Patrick McEnroe’s podcast show. And there he talked about the future generation that has already started tightening their grip on the sport. While talking about the next generation, he focused on the one thing that is stopping the 2022 French Open finalist from becoming the next Serena.

He said, “And Coco, look, she got to fix that forehead. Just an interesting thing. It was never enough just to be called the next Serena Williams. You just have to, not that she didn’t do the work or anything. She is involved in a lot of things.” Well, the young sensation is getting ready to repeat her last year’s heroics at the French Open. She reached the clay court major finals last year, but lost to the world number-one, Iga Swiatek, who was on a mesmerizing winning streak.

READ MORE – ‘On the Fence’ Coco Gauff Gets Real About Receiving Major Blow Ahead of European Clay Summer – ‘Just Me and My Dad’

Along with focusing on her technique, he also talked about how she has gotten literally amazing off the tennis court. He focused on how she’s vocal about social issues and, more importantly, enjoying herself as a person. However, a few months before, the 19-year-old shared her detached life philosophy after constantly getting compared to her tennis icon.

Does Gauff want to be the next Serena Williams? 

The fifth-ranked tennis player in the world made it clear that she wanted to carve out a niche for herself rather than strive to overtake others, according to the New Zealand Herald. She is regularly compared to the former world number one, and she is well aware of the similarity.

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On the other hand, the 19-year-old is still figuring things out, and she feels that she and the former tennis player are not even on a similar level when they are on the court. Notably, she also emphasised that she doesn’t let continual comparison impact her and that she isn’t aiming to fill anyone else’s shoes. She is merely doing her best as a tennis player.