Coco Gauff Looked Up To Serena, Venus; Now Shouldering Expectations

The Williams sisters – Venus and Serena – have been at the forefront of women’s tennis for almost two decades and there have been few in the Open Era that have dominated the game like the American duo. They have a combined 44 Grand Slam titles between them in singles and doubles with first of them coming in 1999.

While Venus has in recent years begun to drop down the rankings on the WTA Tour, Serena has continued to challenge for the major titles. The 38-year-old is currently ranked No. 9 in the world and has made four Grand Slam finals in the last 15 months, losing each one to a different opponent.

Serena continues to chase her 24th major title which will see her equal Margaret Court’s all-time record and both the player and her coach Patrick Mouratoglou are certain that she can get back to her best in the future. On the other side of the spectrum, there is Coco Gauff, a 15-year-old American, who is making waves on the tour after she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third round at the 2019 US Open.

Gauff is considered to be the new generation to take over from the veteran sisters, who are in the twilight of their careers. The 15-year-old admitted that she looked up to the Williams siblings growing up but is already feeling the weight of the expectations as young girls now try to emulate her achievements this past year.

“Watching the Williams sisters growing up, I always looked up to them. Now I have people saying they look up to me, and it’s a big challenge,” Gauff said, as quoted on Tennis World USA. “I’m representing myself, yes, but I’m also representing young girls who want to do big things."

Gauff recently became the youngest player to enter the top-100 in the women’s rankings for over a decade after making the quarterfinals of the Linz Open. She admits it is a great accomplishment but wants to progress farther in the tournament – she plays top seed Kiki Bertens for a place in the last four.

"It's a good accomplishment, and hopefully I can continue to push that to the semi-finals,” she added. “I guess that I'm used to being the youngest to do a lot of things, and I hope that I can continue to do that and enjoy my youth years, because as everyone tells me, it doesn't last long."