Coco Gauff’s Admiration for the Williams Sisters and Upcoming Matches

In July 2019, a 15-year-old Coco Gauff drew global attention by defeating Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, in the first round at Wimbledon. She repeated this feat at the Australian Open in January 2020.

By July 2021, Gauff teamed up with Williams as doubles partners, although they lost in the first round at Roland-Garros. Despite Gauff’s proximity to her childhood idols, Venus and Serena Williams, her admiration for them remains strong.

“I played the sport because of them, believed that I could do things because of them, and I still look up to them a lot,” Gauff expressed at her first Wimbledon press conference. “Even when I play them, I’m still admiring. I think that’s the only time that’s happened to me in this sport.”

For the first time since the 2022 US Open, Serena and Venus Williams will compete in doubles together at Wimbledon, facing Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra in the first round on Thursday, July 2. They have previously secured six doubles titles at Wimbledon.

Serena Williams will also make her singles return against Maya Joint on Tuesday, June 30. Williams holds seven Wimbledon singles titles. Gauff has yet to compete against Serena Williams, although there might be an opportunity if Serena continues beyond Wimbledon.

“I would really love to play with Coco,” Williams mentioned after losing with Karolina Muchova at the Berlin Tennis Open. She added, “To be honest, she was on my list of people that I would love to play with. Now that I know that – and she’s so focused on singles nowadays. I guess I should have asked, though. I didn’t know.”

Gauff, currently ranked No. 7 in singles, is aiming for her first Wimbledon title and will begin her campaign against No. 78 Tamara Korpatsch on Monday, June 29.