Name: Coco Gauff
Age: 16
Nationality: American
Similar playing style to: Caroline Wozniacki
In sport, on rare occasions, generational talents emerge and blow us all away. Simone Biles, gymnastics. Shafali Verma, cricket. Kylian Mbappe, football. Coco Gauff, tennis. They turn heads. Convert casual fans into hardcore followers. Take the sport to new places. Gauff is well on the way to doing that for tennis, she is special.
Coco grew up in a sporting background, her father was a basketball player, while her mother excelled in track-and-field during her time studying at Florida State University. Despite Gauff trying a variety of sports from a young age, at six-years-old she decided tennis was the sport to pursue, because it was an individual sport. At ten-years-old, Gauff began training at the Mouratoglou Academy in France that is run by Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’s longtime coach. During an interview with UbiTennis Mouratglou said: “She’s very special and has the two major qualities that you cannot teach. First of all, she is a great competitor. That is something very difficult to teach. Secondly, she’s a natural athlete. You can build (a player) physically, but natural athleticism is something you have or don’t have.’ “She’s a hard worker, which is something not everybody has and this is very important to reach the top of the game.”
Gauff had a fantastic junior career and claimed the world number one spot. The youngster reached the 2017 US Open final in her maiden junior grand slam, losing the title to Amanda Anisimova, another American teenage sensation who is flying in the pro ranks. Aged just 14, Gauff did not enter another tournament in singles until French Open 2018, in which she won her first career junior grand slam title. Coco did not drop a set until the final, where she came from behind to defeat compatriot Catherine McNally in three sets. With winning that title, Gauff became the fifth youngest girls’ singles champion in French Open history.
So, the American entered the pro-ranks with a good pedigree, however nobody expected her to set the world alight in the way she did. Skip to Wimbledon 2019. After entering the qualifying rounds on a wildcard, the 15-year-old steamrolled through three qualifying stages to become the youngest player ever to reach the Wimbledon main draw. A mouth-watering first round clash. Against an idol, Venus Williams. Life-long dreams became reality. In a match that captured the imagination of the sporting world, Coco downed the 7-time grand slam champion in straight-sets to progess to round two. It was a changing of the guard, a special performance in many ways. In all my time watching tennis, I had never seen a performance like it. The athleticism, defence, mentality, fight and emotion was gripping. Even the celebration, typical of a schoolgirl who had just defeated a champion, amazing scenes that will be replayed for years. The thing that impressed me most, was her fearlessness. Gauff was born to win. No matter who is on the other side of the court, she believes in herself to win. To do that and handle the pressure of court one at Wimbledon, 15-years-old, is quite ridiculous. Words can’t do justice.
She was the talk of Wimbledon. With confidence flowing and millions of eyes watching, Gauff went from strength-to-strength, wins over Magdalena Rybarikova and Pologa Hercog saw the American reach round four. A centre court clash with Simona Halep awaited. Just looking back on that Hercog match, we saw the menal toughness and will to win excel again. Gauff faced two match points, but that ‘never say die’ attitude and backing of the Wimbledon crowd, carried her to a three set victory. Coco was rolling on, continuing to astonish everyone and gain supporters from all across the world. She was eliminated in the fourth round, by eventual champion, Halep. What an introduction to life at Wimbledon, a great story for tennis. We have an exciting, entertaining superstar to follow for years, it’s going to be some journey. With this run, Gauff rose to 141 in the world rankings.
Onto the American hard-court season, kicking things off at the Citi Open. Although Gauff lost in the opening round of the singles event, her doubles partnership with Caty Mcnally proved to be a hugely successful one. The teenage pairing defeated Fanny Stollar and Maria Sanchez in the final, to claim their first ever WTA title. Onto the US Open, a big one. Could Gauff repeat her Wimbledon performances in New York? Do not doubt her. With two three-set wins over Anastasia Potapova and Timea Babos, the 15-year-old advanced to round three. People quickly forgot how young she was, it was becoming normal to see her beat top players. Gauff posseses lightening speed, natural athleticism, a good all-round game and a rock solid mentality. These wins were no fluke, Coco was outbattling opponents and deservedly winning. Gauff performed well against the world number one, Naomi Osaka, but lost in straight-sets. Still, a fantastic run and another brilliant experience.
The 2019 ride to stardom continued, this time in Linz, Austria. Gauff entered the draw as a lucky loser, and duly took advantage. Top 10 ranked Kiki Bertens awaited in the quarter-final, the pair played out an epic match, which Gauff edged 7-6 6-4 to reach a WTA semi-final. A straight-sets win over Andrea Petkovic, setup a superb final clash against former grand slam champion Jelena Ostapenko. The Latvian is a winner machine, but with that game-style comes errors. Gauff’s athleticism, defence and craft caused Ostapenko all sorts of problems. It was Coco’s day, again. She edged a three-set thriller to become the youngest player to win a singles WTA title since 2014, and entered the top 100 in rankings. Gauff and McNally ended their year with a second WTA doubles title at the Luxembourg Open. Their games compliment each other so well.
Time for Melbourne, Australian Open 2020. Could she perform down under? The hard courts suit Gauff’s style perfectly. Her movement and speed across the court allows her to counter-punch, attack the net and just dictate rallies with relative ease. For a 16-year-old, her first serve is such a weapon, too. It will be Serena like in a few years. The small matter of Venus Williams again in round one. Mission accomplished. Gauff defeated Williams in straight-sets, to the joy of a packed Melbourne crowd. Queue another celebration full of emotion and pride. Wimbledon, US Open and now doing it in Australia, this girl is special. A close victory against Sorana Cirstea in round two, gave Gauff a chance to gain revenge on Osaka for the 2019 US Open defeat. Osaka had a real off night, she struggled under the pressure of the crowd and presence of Gauff. Nothing went right on that night for the Japanese star, but take nothing away from Gauff – she played an outstanding match and took advantage of a rare bad performance from Osaka. Also, that win meant the American became the youngest player to beat a top five ranked player since 1991. Players were frightened to face Gauff. The teenager had the backing of the sporting world, momentum, confidence, no fear and a brilliant skill-set to carry out on court. In an all-American fourth round clash, Gauff lost in three sets against eventual champion Sofia Kenin.
So, three career titles, ranked 52 in the world and nine grand slam wins. 16-years-old. Pretty good, isn’t it? The potential that Gauff has is absolutely frightening. She strikes me as someone that will do everything to succeed, and just fight to win every tournament she plays in. Her parents provide a great support network, and as we see on court – winning tennis matches means everything to Coco Gauff. Watch the Wimbledon wins back, the celebrations will never get old. The attitude and mental toughness has already carried her a long way, that can not be taught, she is a born winner. Gauff’s game will continue to develop overtime, strength will increase as she naturally grows, but it will be the athleticism, heart and desire that make her a great player. I can’t wait to follow her career, trophies incoming.
Comments