Coco Gauff is the in-form player in women’s tennis, coming into Wimbledon off the back of her French Open Final victory.
The two-time major champion now eyes her first Wimbledon title at the age of just 21. The American is one of the tournament favourites entering the competition after her win at Roland Garros. Gauff’s French Open win was the first for an American in 10 years.
But despite her youth, this is Gauff’s sixth appearance at SW19. She burst onto the scene as a teenager and pulled off one of the most shocking upsets in the tournament’s history against her idol, to prove that Wimbledon is a place of fairy tales.
15-year-old Coco Gauff took a stunning victory against Venus Williams at Wimbledon
Gauff, ranked number 313 in the world at the time, was a qualifier making her Grand Slam main draw debut. She was drawn against her idol in the first round, Williams, who was a five-time winner of the event and 24 years her senior.
The 15-year-old showed the poise and maturity of a veteran of the sport in front of a packed-out Number One Court. Gauff won the first set 6-4, an already momentous achievement.
Williams looked to be making her comeback in the second set. Gauff fought her off valiantly to save break points, but her serve was eventually cracked to make it 4-4. But she broke straight back and served out the win to take victory in straight sets.
Gauff dropped her racket in shock, hands on her head and teary eyes at the end of the match.
“Honestly, I don’t really know how to feel,” she said on-court afterwards. “This is the first time I ever cried after a match. Or winning, obviously; I’ve cried after a loss before. I don’t even know how to explain how I feel.”
Williams was gracious in defeat. About Gauff, she said, “The sky’s the limit,” Williams said. “It really is.”
Gauff ‘super excited’ for Wimbledon despite early exit in Berlin
After Gauff won the French Open, she entered the WTA 500 event in Berlin in preparation for Wimbledon. What was expected to be a deep run turned into an early exit however, as she fell in the second round to China’s Wang Xinyu.
“It was a tough one today but happy to be back on court”, wrote Gauff on Instagram after the loss.
“Tried my best to adjust with the quick turnaround but it wasn’t enough. As always, I’m learning as I go so I hope to do better next time. Thank you Berlin for the short but sweet visit, I’ll come back stronger next year.”
The disappointing result hasn’t dented the world number two’s enthusiasm about the upcoming tournament. She told USA Today:
“Mentally, I am really excited. Every time I come on these grounds, I get so inspired so, I am really excited.
“I played a tournament last week and it wasn’t so great,” she reflected. “This week I am really just trying to focus on the fundamentals of playing on grass and things like that.”
Gauff will hope her work on developing her grass court play will lead to her first ever final on the surface.