Coco Gauff expressed her delight at the news that one of her tennis idols, Serena Williams, is returning to tennis. The teenage prodigy explained that the WTA great is one of her biggest inspirations.
Gauff burst onto the professional tennis scene in recent years after making her WTA debut at the Miami Open at age 15. The American star has gone from strength to strength since her debut, reaching the Roland Garros quarter-final in 2021 before going further and making the final in Paris this season.
Like all professional tennis players, Gauff has her idols from previous eras, with Williams being one of them. Moreover, the 18-year-old followed in the footsteps of her compatriot in 2021 when she became the youngest American to break into the WTA's Top 25 since Serena achieved the same feat in 1998.
However, the two American players are currently on different paths, as Gauff will enter the 2022 Wimbledon as a potential favorite. Williams, who won the grass-court Grand Slam seven times, will be an outsider following a recent announcement that she would compete at the tournament.
Ahead of Williams' return at SW19, Gauff spoke highly of the 23-time Grand Slam winner and shared some of her personal highlights of watching the 39-year-old in action recently.
"I'm glad that she's back, obviously, she's someone that I look up to and it's quite incredible really that she's still playing at the highest level."
"I remember watching that match a year ago where she had to finish short and I thought maybe that would have been the last time we saw her play at Wimbledon just from like outside perspective and you know as players we all know she's at the end of her career and you don't know how many more times you're going to see her but I think whenever she's in a tournament."
Williams will start her Wimbledon campaign against French player Harmony Tan in what could be her final bow at the grass-court Grand Slam in London.
Although Williams may not be everyone's pick to go far in the competition one last time, Gauff feels that her fellow American star has something special that could help her towards a deep run in SW19 this year.
"I think she's always a contender to win even if she hadn't played for a year and, yeah, I'm excited to see her play."