Coco Gauff has more than one idol, but she spoke of the massive influence the Williams sisters had during her early years and which enabled her to take up tennis on a professional level.
Gauff gravitated towards individual sports and picked up her first racket at the age of six. The love affair began as Gauff turned the house basement into her favorite playpen, often hitting tennis balls on the wall with a racket that her father bought for her despite never asking for it.
Gauff began taking tennis seriously at the age of eight. At 10, she started training at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, catching the eye of Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou who instantly recognized her talents.
Looking back, Gauff says she was inspired by watching the iconic pair of Serena and Venus Williams dominating on the WTA Tour. She talked about it during her 2023 Cincinnati Masters campaign, which has been really successful so far.
"Definitely the Williams sisters they are the reasons why I started playing tennis and honestly that fight, watching them fight day in day out even Venus starting down 5-1 in the earlier rounds and coming back, just their fight and who they are on and off the court."
"My Dad just kinda bought it for me (racket), so I wouldn't say it was something I asked to do, he brought it and I just gravitated towards it, I would hit on the wall inside the house a lot, we had a basement and then I would hit on the garage door and I just loved playing and then you know seeing them, Serena and Venus being so electric on TV made me want to do something like that."
When Gauff was growing up in Atlanta, she engaged in many sports. Her parents had NCAA Division collegiate backgrounds in basketball and track and field. This also explains why Gauff named NBA legend LeBron James as one of her role models for his sheer resilience and tenacity in pulling through adversity.
"And also LeBron James, when people define him, he's old or saying he can't come back and I was thinking when he was 3-1 down and came back. I was like if him and his team can do it, then I can do it down one point and not two whole games."
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