Even though Coco Gauff has many heroes, she emphasized the huge impact the Williams sisters had on her in her early years and how that helped her pursue tennis professionally.
Gauff started tennis properly when she was eight years old. She began practicing at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, getting the attention of Patrick Mouratoglou, a former coach of Serena Williams, who immediately saw her potential.
Gauff recalls being inspired by the legendary Serena and Venus Williams as they dominated the WTA Tour in the past. During her outstanding  Cincinnati Masters campaign, she discussed it.
Gauff expressed her inspiration and stated: “Definitely the Williams sisters they are the reasons why I started playing tennis and honestly that fight, watching them fight day in and day out even Venus starting down 5-1 in the earlier rounds and coming back, just their fight and who they are on and off the court.”
She further added: “And also LeBron James, when people define him, he’s old or saying he can’t come back and I was thinking when he was 3-1 down and came back. I was like if he and his team can do it, then I can do it down one point and not two whole games.”
Coco Gauff inspired by Serena, Venus, & LeBron James:
“They’re the reasons I started playing tennis. Watching them fight day in & day out.. just their fight. Who they are on & off court. Also LeBron James…” ❤️
(via @TennisChannel & @PrakashAmritraj)
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 19, 2023
Gauff in Cincinnati, ranking, and results in 2023
LWWLWLWWLW Currently ranked no.7, Gauff has achieved a composed 37-13 record in 2023. Coco is now playing in Cincinnati where she ousted the world no.33 Mayar Sherif 6-2 6-2, the world no.50 Linda Noskova 6-4 6-0, the world no.43 Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-2 and the world no.1 Iga Swiatek 7-62 3-6 6-4.
Coco Gauff will take on the world no.17 Karolina Muchova in the final on Sunday at 1:30 pm on CENTER COURT. They have never competed against each other till now in top competitions.
Coco clinched 2 titles in 2023 in Auckland and Washington.
Coco won 4 titles in her career: 2 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Venus Williams in 2023
LL Now ranked no.533, Venus Williams played her last match on the 16th of August when she lost to world no.24 Qinwen Zheng 1-6 6-2 6-1 in the 2nd round in Cincinnati (draw).
This year Venus achieved a composed 3-6 match record.
Coco Gauff and Venus Williams clashed against each other only twice. Their actual record is 2-0 for Gauff. Previously, the last time they squared off, Coco Gauff won 7-6(5) 6-3 in the 1st round in Melbourne (Australian Open) in January 2020.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
