Cori “Coco” Gauff became an instant sporting celebrity when she beat Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon, becoming the most talked about tennis star of her generation.
“It wasn’t a progressive thing. It literally happened overnight,” the 15-year-old said. HYPERBEAST Magazine in a recent interview regarding his sudden entry into the spotlight. “A lot of people come up to me and tell me that I inspire them, and honestly, I think that’s just crazy.”
The young star gained international attention when her talent took her to the fourth round at Wimbledon. When asked if she will be the next Serena Williams, the humble young athlete simply replied: “It’s a great honor that they compare me to her.” But for me, I try not to think about being the next Serena because she’s her own person and I’m my own person. I don’t want to be the next Serena, I just want to be myself.
Discover an excerpt from the interview with HYPERBEAST below. To read the interview in full, click here.
HYPEBEAST: How are you handling this new recognition after Wimbledon?
Coco Gauff: I knew I would have a bigger platform, but not to this extent. Many people come and tell me that they have never watched a match in their life and they shouted at the TV during Wimbledon. It’s crazy. Tennis, at least in the United States, is not one of the greatest sports. I guess it was a big story, but I didn’t think it would be. so big or so global.
Are there any specific things you learned after participating in such a big tournament? like Wimbledon?
Well, first I learned how to play in front of such a big crowd and deal with all the noise. it circulates. Even after Venus, I was like, “It’s not like the Superbowl when you win, you win. I still had a lot of matches to play after Venus. I was just I do my best not to think about it anymore. It was just hard, because it was a dream to come true. And even now, I tell my dad daily that I can’t really believe I beat Venus.
I also learned that I was capable of many things. On my third lap, I think, I was down a few match points and I was able to fight and I just learned that no whatever the score, if I keep fighting, maybe I will come out on top.
Do you think it’s maybe more of a mental challenge to play in this kind of tournament, as opposed to the physical challenge?
It’s definitely more of a mental challenge than a physical one. In juniors, sometimes you I have to play two or three matches a day. So I wasn’t too afraid of being tired, but mentally it was just difficult, because on the pitch you have to act very calmly. You have fake it till you make it, because I may not look like I was nervous, but I was definitely nervous inside. It’s very difficult not to show it, because your opponent feeds from that point.
Let’s go back a little and talk about your early career. When did you start train tennis, and what attracted you to the sport?
My father and mother made me play a lot of sports from the age of six, and that’s when I started playing tennis. But I also played basketball, track and field, gymnastics and soccer. They knew I would play a sport, but they didn’t know what sport.
I really got serious around eight o’clock. Then I stopped playing all other sports. I think that I I was 12, I turned 13, I stopped playing basketball and athletics. Even as I did basketball and track and field, I knew tennis was my main sport, but I still loved playing it.
What did you like about tennis compared to all other sports?
Just that you are independent on the ground and that you are alone on the ground. Sometimes that this makes it more difficult. But I think for me, even when I was younger, my parents always said, I always played by myself when I would play kindergarten. But I I guess that’s always been my personality, so I think tennis fits that. Even now I’m really independent, I don’t ask for a lot of help. So I think being alone in the field helped me because I can make decisions for myself.
Were your coaches aware of your talent early on?
Yeah, they never really told me. But now my parents told me that a lot of my the coaches, even from the age of eight, they told me that this girl has potential and that she can do great things in sport. And my parents and the coach never told me just so I can continue to work hard and not get too big-headed.
After reaching Wimbledon and potentially going to the US Open, what are your short-term career goals?
In the short term, I want to enter the top 100 of the WTA rankings. Right now I think I’m 141. I started the year at 900, 800, maybe.
At the beginning of the year, I told my father. At the time, he never told me, but he I knew it would be difficult for this to happen. I guess in the back of his mind he thought it would be really hard to do that. because it was before I knew that I would place Wimbledon and Roland-Garros, and all these bigger tournaments. But I said to my dad maybe two or three weeks ago, “I might be able to make the top 100.” He was like, “Yeah. It’s crazy because you told me that at the beginning of the year. SO I hope I can get there, but I think if I compete in my next tournaments and do well then I will get there.
For the next 10 or 20 years, what are your big goals?
In the next 10 years I really want to win a few Grand Slams and hopefully reach number one one day. My overall goal, I guess that would be the biggest of all time. It’s a big goal, but I think for me it’s important to set a really high, long-term goal because I feel like I always want to have motivation. So I hope I can get there. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t, but I know I can do it.
