Wimbledon: Coco Gauff’s Confidence Skyrockets in Serena Williams’ Absence as ‘Stacked’ Field Fails to Intimidate Her
via Imago
Coco Gauff is ready to dominate the grass courts of Wimbledon with her confidence and talent! The 20-year-old player who has recently climbed up the WTA rankings to a No. 2 position, revealed her feelings about playing in an era after Serena Williams’ reign in Wimbledon. Sharing her outlook on the new generation players at Wimbledon, the former U.S. Open shared her outlook on the unpredictable aspects of the whole game!
Before stepping onto the lush green courts of Wimbledon, the semifinalist of the French Open appeared for a pre-tournament press conference. Released on the official YouTube channel of Wimbledon, during the interview, a journalist asked Coco Gauff, “Coco there have been 7 different women’s champions hear in the last seven Wimbledon. What are your thoughts when you hear that and how does it affect you and your outlook?”
The American tennis pro responded, “When I was looking at the Champions wall that they have at Orangi, I was like, oh this is like a lot of different names which I guess like is something that is new. Not new but like a kind of new post Serena a lot of the legend. So I think for me it just shows that there is a lot of talent on the women’s tour and its anybody’s game.”
via Reuters
Further illustrating her point, Coco Gauff, who lost the first round at Wimbledon last year, mentioned, “it gives you confidence obviously when you see that you know the field isn’t stacked.” Explaining her point, Gauff added that, unlike in the past, currently, there is no single or trio of players dominating the ground. “I think everybody has an equal shot, and it’s just about who can perform better that week,” she concluded her statement.
Serena Williams has dominated the Wimbledon grass courts for decades and won seven titles there, showcasing her exceptional performances on-court. Along with Venus, her sister, she also established her power in the doubles category, taking home a total of 14 titles! However, she is not alone. In the past few decades, the dominance of certain players has been common in tennis. Among them, Steffi Graf, who once ruled the courts of Wimbledon and won seven titles, and Martina Navratilova, who has a record of winning 9 titles there, deserve a special mention alongside Williams. Not to forget, Venus Williams as well, who is also not far behind and acquired 5 singles titles herself!
However, currently, the trend is transitioning and over the last seven years, seven different players have won the tournament, increasing the possibility of any talented player taking the trophy home. Be it last year’s Marketa Vondrousova, Elena Rybakina the year before that, or Ash Barty, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza, and the legend, Serena Williams, the list goes on.
Referring to this, Coco Gauff stated how this new trend boosts her confidence and intrigues her more to play the game better. Although Gauff finds a new kind of zeal to perform better post-Serena Williams’ reign at Wimbledon, the 20-year-old never forgets to appreciate the greatness of the 23- Grand Slam champion on-court whenever she has an opportunity.
Coco Gauff states her feelings of being compared to Serena Williams
Coco Gauff first appeared on the grass codes of Wimbledon in 2019 at the age of 15, and after four years won her first Grand Slam at the U.S. Open, she left the tennis world in awe! As she continued her journey, fans and tennis enthusiasts frequently compared her to Serena Williams. However, Gauff soon made it clear that she will never be able to be as great of a player as Williams.
In an interview, Gauff said, “There’s only going to be one greatest of all time and I just feel like no matter what I do, I don’t think anything I’ll do will compare to what Serena [Williams] did for the sport and the game and with the amount of times she won.”
However, in her quest for excellence on-court, the American tennis pro wants her name to be among the best tennis players. The then 19-year-old concluded the statement saying, “So hopefully I can do better and continue to do better.” As Gauff moves forward in her tennis career with this motto, awaiting her in the first round of Wimbledon is Caroline Dolehide. It will be interesting to see her play an amazing match and make a mark at Wimbledon!
