Coco Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion. Remember the name. The 19-year-old American tennis star’s breakthrough victory catapulted her to the next level in the hierarchy of American sports. After the amazing victory, she poured her heart out and highlighted how tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams paved the way for her breakthrough US Open victory.

The sixth-ranked tennis player from Florida battled against Aryna Sabalenka at Arthur Ashe Stadium to lift her first Grand Slam title. As a child who watched the Williams sisters’ dominance on the tennis court, she reflected back on an incident the 41-year-old American tennis legend faced nearly 22 years ago while applauding the American sister icons for their struggle.

Coco Gauff thanks Serena Williams for her struggles of yesterday 

After lifting her first Grand Slam titles, the 19-year-old American tennis sensation talked during the post-match press conference about how the Williams sisters are the reason why she has the US Open Trophy in her hand. Along with that, she also talked about the 22-year-old incident that the 23-time Grand Slam champion faced at Indian Wells.

She said, “It made the dream more believable. All the things they had to go through, they made it easier for someone like me to do this. You look back at the history of Indian Wells with Serena, all she had to go through. Venus, fighting for equal pay. It’s crazy & it’s an honor to be in that same lineup as them.” 

Further, she highlighted how, while growing up, there were not many black women dominating the sport. But the way the 41-year-old American tennis legend faced her fear in the 2001 incident that took place at the Indian Wells tournament and how she got up from that traumatizing incident was just unbelievable.

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She has always wanted to follow the legacy that was created by the iconic tennis duo, acknowledging them after winning her first Grand Slam title and standing in the same victory lineup as them. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at what the Indian Wells incident was that is even today remembered by the 19-year-old tennis player, while Serena can never forget that moment.

The incident that left Serena Williams traumatized but inspired Gauff 

In 2001, the Williams family was involved in an infamous incident that can never be forgotten and even today stands as one of the most traumatizing incidents for the youngest Williams sister. That year, the 41-year-old American tennis legend advanced to the singles final against Kim Clijsters. However, before that, she was lined up to play in the semi-finals against her elder sister, but Venus withdrew due to an injury.

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Looking into that, when her father and her elder sister came to the stand to support her while she was playing the final, she and her family received a lot of Boeing from the crowd. It was something that the 41-year-old American tennis legend can never forget, from how the crowd mistreated her to how she just wanted to run from that situation.

But even after getting through such a huge trauma, she got back and created a legacy for herself on the tennis court that inspired Gauff.