American Coco Gauff Wants To Be Like Idols Serena, Venus Williams

Cori “Coco” Gauff became an overnight tennis sensation when she made the main draw at Wimbledon this year and she stunned the crowd at the All England Club when she defeated her childhood idol Venus Williams in the first round. The American went on to make history as she became the youngest player since 1991 to make the last 16 of the tournament.

The 15-year-old now has a lot of attention on her and she is certain to draw large crowds when she makes her appearance at the US Open, where she has been granted a wild card to the main draw of the women’s singles event. The pressure is going to be more at home than it was at SW19 but Gauff is not concerned about the added pressure.

Gauff wants to put her best foot forward and is hoping she can be a good role model for young girls aspiring to be tennis players. She idolized Serena Williams and sister Venus growing up and is hoping that later in her career she will be held in the same regard by an up and coming player.

"I do not really feel too much weight on me because I am just being the best person I can be,” Gauff said, as quoted by the Express. “I know that people are looking up to me so I guess that helps a lot more because I know that people are watching and I want to be a good role model for younger girls.”

“One day I hope that, like how I’m talking about Venus and Serena are my idols, I hope that one day somebody says they’re mine,” Gauff added.

The world no. 139 continued her form post Wimbledon and made her second main draw of the year at the ongoing Citi Open in Washington. She came through two qualifying rounds comfortably to face Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.

Unfortunately, the prospect of another deep run was cut short after she went down 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 18 minutes to the world no. 84. Nevertheless, Gauff was not too disappointed as she is certain that there is something to learn from her loss to Diyas. She also thanked the support she received during the tournament and was looking forward to get her ladies doubles campaign underway alongside fellow teenager Caty McNally.

"Every loss, there’s something I learn from that, so I learned something about myself," Gauff said during her post-match press conference, as quoted on WTA Tennis. "Looking back, a few days from now, I think I’ll learn a lot. Obviously right now, I feel a little bit disappointed."

"I’m really happy for the support that I’ve gotten here," Gauff added. "It was a sad way to finish the singles run, but I’m excited to play doubles."