Since winning her first Grand Slam at the 2023 US Open, tennis star Coco Gauff has not only become the No. 3 player in the world—making her the top-ranked American—she’s reached a new level of stardom. Case in point, she graces the April cover of Vogue, where she’s featured in a glamorous photo shoot. In the accompanying interview, she discusses that instant classic final at the U.S. Open, her battle with perfectionism and the influence of tennis greats, Venus and Serena Williams.
When you’re a Black woman who plays tennis, you immediately find yourself compared to Venus and Serena. It doesn’t matter if your game is similar to theirs, it’s how the sport works. “Oh, you’re a Black girl. You’re the next Serena.” It’s happened to Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys and Naomi Osaka. If you actually look like a young Serena—as Coco did—then you’re treated like the third Williams sister. With her breakout moment in 2015 coming against Venus at Wimbledon, she had to embrace the pressure and comparisons.
Gauff described how walking down the hall to Centre Court meant passing photos of former champions, including her five-time winning competitor. In order to make it through the match, she had to put all that aside and just focus on the tennis.
“She’s coming up, like, multiple times,” Gauff said. “And she’s walking behind me. When I walked on the court, I put the music really loud in my ears because I didn’t want to look at, or hear, the crowd. A lot of times during that match I didn’t even look at the scoreboard because I didn’t want to see her name.”
Coco has always made it clear that the Williams sisters are her idols, as she’s grateful for all the doors they opened and the impact they had on the game. Though she and Venus are forever linked by that special match at Wimbledon, she never got the chance to play Serena, but she recognizes that it may have all worked out for the best.
“If I had the perfect world I would have gotten to play both,” she said. “But Serena retired and I played Venus twice. In my perfect world I would have played Venus once and Serena once,” she said. “Playing Serena at Wimbledon, I don’t know, I feel like it would have messed up my story. I wasn’t ready for Serena at that time.”
She may not have gotten to play Serena in a match, but she did get to meet her role model and get some important advice from the legend.
“It was just kind of like: ‘Focus on your growth and your own rate of success, not other people’s,’ ” she said.
Gauff also explained how much she learned from Venus when they played doubles together, with the seven-time Grand Slam champion teaching her young partner about “the importance of humility and…enjoying life outside of tennis.” Coco also recalled breaking a racket during the match and Venus being totally cool with it. “She was like, ‘That’s okay. That’s what you needed to do in that moment,’” Gauff said.
Winning the US Open has certainly brought more expectations and attention to Coco’s game. Every tournament she enters now, she’s instantly considered one of the favorites. But she seems to thrive under pressure, so fans aren’t worried about her finding more success.
Up next, Coco Gauff is currently competing at the Indian Wells Masters, followed by the Miami Open. Both events air on Tennis Channel.