Coco Gauff is delighted with the way she reached the second round of the Australian Open on Monday. Just like last year at Wimbledon, the fifteen-year-old top talent was too strong for her 24-year-old idol Venus Williams in two sets.
“I didn’t want the nerves to get the upper hand and was really focused. I think this was the best game I played this year,” said Gauff after her beautiful victory in the Margaret Court Arena, which she took after more than an hour and a half. the longest end was: 7-6 (5) and 6-3.
The American teen sensation made its breakthrough last year by beating Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon. Gauff had qualified for the main tournament as the youngest qualifier ever and took another chemistry exam between her three qualifying matches.
She continued her stunt on Williams by reaching the eighth finals in London, after which Simona Halep put an end to her fairy tale. “I had not seen it coming at all that I would meet Venus in the first round of a Grand Slam so soon,” said Gauff, now number 67 in the world.
“You don’t expect anything like that. I also knew from Wimbledon that Venus would not just give me the victory, it was not for nothing that she put away a few set points. I really had to drag the victory out. That was the mission and it succeeded.”
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Venus Williams congratulates Coco Gauff for her victory in Melbourne. (Photo: Pro Shots)
“I won’t let the public scare me off anymore”
Her Wimbledon success turned out to be no incident, because a few months later Gauff also showed up at the US Open on the highest stage. She reached the third round at Flushing Meadows and lost to Naomi Osaka, but her Grand Slam performances gave her the necessary confidence.
“I think that I am now more used to being in big jobs. I think my way of thinking has really changed since the US Open; I am not deterred by the crowd,” says Gauff.
The expectations have risen sharply due to its stormy development, but the American is not running away from it. In fact, she sets the bar high for herself. “My mission is to become the best of all time. I just want to win as many Grand Slams as possible.”
Gauff takes on the second round of the Australian Open against Romanian Sorana Cîrstea, the world’s number 74. For the top talent, it is her debut at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
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