Coco Gauff has outlined how Serena Williams and Venus Williams were inspirations when she was finding her feet in a predominantly white sport.
Despite being just 20 years old, Gauff is an established player at the top after winning the US Open and securing her second WTA-1000 title at the China Open a few weeks ago.
She broke through at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships as a 15-year-old by reaching the fourth round. That included a famous triumph against five-time singles champion at SW19 Venus Williams in the opening round.
Beating a tennis legend like Williams would have been a significant moment for Gauff no matter what, but as a child, she idolized Venus and her sister Serena, making the victory even more special.
Venus has since become a fan of Gauff's. The 44-year-old says she always roots for last year's US Open champion during her matches and believes she is fantastic for the sport.
Serena and Venus are two of America's most iconic sporting figures because of their achievements on the court. However, they have also inspired by succeeding in a historically white sport.
The iconic sisters did not come from a wealthy background either, making their journey to the top of women's tennis even more inspiring. They helped young people, especially, have dreams and believe that anything was possible during their careers.
One of those young people was Gauff. A picture circulated on social media a while ago of her as a child watching Venus playing against Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Gauff responded to the picture by saying it proves that dreams do come true.
The world No. 3 has now elaborated further on how both Williams sisters inspired her in a recent interview with Baker Tilly, saying their example was important when she was trying to establish herself in a predominantly white sport.
"Finding myself was difficult. Being Black in tennis is, sometimes you do stick out like a sore thumb. Like in the Black community, tennis is not a huge thing. Nobody really knew anything about it. I had mentioned that I play tennis but nobody cared."
"But I feel like for me, having role models like Serena and Venus to look up to made a difference. Honestly I just remember watching Venus at US Open. My dad got second row tickets and we were so close and that was a cool thing."
Gauff was also asked what makes her unique during the interview. She answered that everyone is unique and that there will never be another one of anybody, which is a nice mindset for people to have.
"What makes me unique? I mean we’re all one of one, so we’re all unique. There’s never going to be another one of me and there’s never going to be another one of anybody. That’s a cool thing to think about."
Although she is correct that everyone is unique, the influence Gauff has as a top tennis player at a young age is especially high. The American is an excellent role model and inspires others, just like the Williams sisters did.
0 Comments