Coco Gauff has never hidden how much she idolized Venus Williams and Serena Williams, and Venus outlined her respect for the young star.
Gauff reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2019 as a 15-year-old. That achievement would have been notable regardless of who she defeated, but she faced Venus in the opening round at SW19 that year.
The oldest of the iconic Williams sisters was left stunned when Gauff produced exceptional tennis to triumph 6-4, 6-4 against the five-time Wimbledon singles champion, creating headlines worldwide.
Five years later, Gauff has lived up to the early hype about her. The 20-year-old won last year's US Open, secured her second WTA-1000 title at the recent China Open, and reached No. 2 in the world.
Now aged 44, Venus is understandably not regularly competing on the WTA Tour anymore. Her last appearance was at the Miami Open in March, and some probably expected the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion to be retired.
However, Venus has revealed she is not finished playing yet and intends to return in 2025 by picking and choosing her tournaments, which she has earned the right to do after such a long and distinguished career.
Earlier this year, Gauff demonstrated how inspired she has been by Venus by commenting on a social media video of her as a child watching the 44-year-old in action against fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Years later, Williams is now an admirer of Gauff's. While promoting her new book about wellness on the Tamron Hall Show, the tennis legend discussed how she always roots for the 2023 US Open winner during her matches.
"I mean it's so exciting to see her just like… explode. She is fantastic, and of course, I hope she wins every match."
When Gauff commented on the the video of her watching Williams play years ago, she said it proved that dreams can come true since the world No. 3 is competing at the top of the sport like her idol did.
Williams agrees that it is important for people to dream big, even though achieving goals can sometimes be a frustrating process containing many twists and turns that need to be navigated.
"Exactly. And you have to dream. Doesn't mean that there won't be turns all the way of the dream or someday there's gonna be ups and downs but as long as you have your north star…And there's times when you have to figure out how to do it another way. But all that is a part of… you have to dream big."
Venus is in a great position to speak about making big dreams come true. She and her sister Serena did not come from wealthy backgrounds, and the probability of them reaching the top of tennis might have seemed very minute.
Yet, both women became two of the most iconic figures in American sports. Gauff has the opportunity to do the same, although there is much work ahead of her to achieve that. However, the 20-year-old seems to have the work ethic and drive to make it happen.