Coco Gauff impressed Serena Williams – and the feeling is mutual

One of the teenage stars of tennis and a shining example of the next generation of players to be inspired by the feats of Serena Williams, American Coco Gauff, believes the retired legend has undisputed status as the greatest player of all time.

Gauff, fast making inroads in the sport and a major finalist since last visiting Australia 12 months ago, says it doesn’t matter that Williams couldn’t quite get one more major in the closing phase of her career to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles.

Coco Gauff in action in Melbourne on Friday.Credit: Getty Images

And Gauff, 18, herself says she’s matured plenty in the past year, to the point that in 2023 she’s eyeing off a major title, which, if achieved at Melbourne Park, would make the Florida-raised star the second-youngest woman to win the Australian Open, behind Martina Hingis.

It was one of Williams’ 23 major titles that prompted Gauff’s father to buy his daughter a pink Wilson racquet, helping spark her lifelong love of tennis and adoration of Serena Williams. “There’s nothing else that she needed to do in tennis,” she says of the all-time great.

It seems Gauff’s career has been in the public domain for half a decade – which, actually, is not far off the mark. In a career of firsts, Gauff was the youngest qualifier at Wimbledon, aged 15 and, in that event, she famously beat the elder Williams sister, Venus Williams, in the first round.

But it was the right-hander’s progress in 2022, a push into the WTA top 10 and a career-high ranking of world No. 4 that showed Gauff was primed for the next step. A berth in the Roland Garros final and the US Open quarters were highlights last year, but it was her composure and feet-firmly-on-the-ground mentality that probably illustrated more.

After the frustration of a heavy 6-1, 6-3 finals defeat to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in Paris, Gauff took the experience in her stride, answering questions patiently from the media and giving considered answers in a lengthy media conference.

“I definitely feel Iike I’m a different person and player,” Gauff told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald about her progress in the past year.

“I feel like I’ve improved a lot mentally, emotionally and tactically on the court. It comes with trial and error. You learn from your experiences. That’s why I’m trying to do – learn from them and improve from them and hopefully continuing to improve and accomplish my goals.”

Gauff’s composure at a tender age was observed three years ago by Williams, who noted it was in sharp comparison to what she was like.

“She’s just impressive all round – from her personality to the way she plays. I think it’s super impressive,” Williams said at the 2020 Australian Open.

“I was nowhere near her level at [age] 15, on the court or off the court. Not even close.”

As a rising star, Gauff is acutely aware of her own capacity to influence and inspire youngsters. Hence her willingness to open herself up, even after a tough loss.

“I try not to close myself off in press conferences, even though, you know, a lot of times you don’t feel like being there, especially after a loss,” said Gauff, who won her third WTA title last weekend in Auckland.

“But I think for the most part I try to understand that there’s people watching and listening to my answers, and maybe a kid is out there and I want them to feel that losing isn’t the end of the world.

Coco Gauff after winning her third WTA title last weekend in Auckland.Credit: Getty Images

“I try my best to talk through my emotions during those interviews and everything, and I try and be as honest as I can.”

Gauff first met the younger Williams sister when she was about 10, when the young talent had a role in a commercial featuring the global sporting juggernaut.

“They needed a body double to play a younger version of her,” said Gauff, now the world No. 7.

“I don’t even think they ever used the footage, but it was just filmed from the neck down. I still have the picture [of me with her].”

News of the imminent departure from tennis for Williams, who reached four grand slam finals after returning to the tour in 2018 as a mother, came via a highly personal Vogue essay. It was not so much a jolt, given she was in her 40s, but it was an earth-shattering moment for tennis.

“I feel like it’s one of those announcements that was inevitable, and people were expecting her to retire for a long time,” says Gauff.

“I feel like she beat the odds [in her career] – [achieving] way past what any other person could think of doing.

“I wasn’t really shocked, but I was definitely not sad either. I think it was more of a celebration. I feel like she’s the type of person that you can’t really be sad [about] when she retires, because it wasn’t like a bad injury that ended her career.

“She’s won at all stages of her life, so I feel like she has had a career that deserves to be celebrated. There’s nothing else that she needed to do in tennis.

“I know people talk about her winning one more but to me it doesn’t matter. I think she’s done everything that a tennis player could ever dream of. And she’s definitely going down as the greatest of all time.”

A young Coco Gauff in action at Traralgon.

This is Gauff’s fourth Australian Open, but not her first time venturing further down under. As a young player on the climb, she ventured to Traralgon, in country Victoria, for a junior International Tennis Federation tournament at the height of summer.

Her memories of that tournament in 2018 are vivid.

“Yes, I definitely remember Traralgon,” she says. “They had a lot of flies there!

“I remember losing in the semis maybe and, yeah, I just remember being really hot there, and then we had that ride to Melbourne.

“Pretty much every great player has played that tournament, at least it looked like that on their wall of fame down there.”