The American Coco Gauff was considered the next tennis prodigy. But for a long time their performance did not keep up with the demands. Now, at the age of 18, she is in her first Grand Slam final in Paris, where she meets the first in the world rankings.
Coco Gauff should become the next Serena Williams – these are high claims.
Iga Swiatek is a finalist with announcement in Roland-Garros. The world number one has dominated women’s tennis for weeks. The 6-2, 6-1 semi-final defeat of Russia’s Daria Kasatkina was her 34th win in a row.
The star of the 21-year-old Pole rose a year and a half ago with a victory at the French Open, which was postponed to autumn due to the pandemic. At the beginning of April, she replaced the surprisingly retired Australian Ashleigh Barty at the top of the WTA ranking.
In the final on Saturday, Coco Gauff will try to stop Swiatek’s winning streak. At the age of 18, the American is in her first Grand Slam final. Three years ago, Gauff arrived on the tennis circuit with a bang: In Wimbledon, she was the youngest player in history to qualify for the main tournament and then the fourth round. Along the way, she beat Venus Williams, among others.
Gauff says: “I’m a great person”
Gauff’s talent is well known. At the age of 13, she became the youngest player to reach the final of the junior tournament at the US Open. At 14 she won the junior title at Roland-Garros. The American media in particular already saw the next Serena Williams in the dark-skinned player from Florida.
But Gauff’s career did not develop as rapidly as expected; so far she has only won two minor titles in Linz and Parma. The quarter-final qualification last spring in Paris was her best result at a Grand Slam tournament up until this tournament. She lost there to unseeded doubles specialist Barbora Krejcikova and was heartbroken afterwards. The fact that the Czech then won the tournament only marginally mitigated Gauff’s disappointment.
After her victory in the quarterfinals against Sloane Stephens, Gauff said on Tuesday: “I believe in myself. But I think when I was younger I was too focused on meeting other people’s expectations. One should enjoy life. No matter how good or bad my career gets, I’m a great person.”
The sentence sounds like the mantra from a self-help course. But especially in women’s tennis, the expectations and the pressure they build up are not always easy for the sometimes very young players to cope with.
At the age of 14, Gauff signed the first supplier contract with the sporting goods manufacturer New Balance. Roger Federer’s agency takes your interests team8 was. A year ago, Gauff told the American business magazine “Forbes”: “Experiencing up close how Roger deals with similar situations definitely helps. I’m not trying to copy his game. But I try to take over certain routines from him. It’s certainly not a disadvantage to be relatively close to Roger and also to Serena (Williams). “
Gauff benefits from the agency and the advice of Federer’s agency Team8
Coco Gauff also benefits tangibly from the connections and network of Federer and his longtime agent Tony Godsick. Her partners include the Italian pasta producer Barilla from Parma, where she won her second title a year ago.
In Parma she discovered her love for sand, on which she has now also reached her first Grand Slam final. The fact that she took the last step on Thursday against the Italian Martina Trevisan (6: 3, 6: 1) is not without irony.
But it also seems clear: Gauff’s performance against the unseeded Trevisan will not be enough to stop Iga Swiatek’s winning streak. Trevisan was overwhelmed by the stage and task in the semifinals. At the age of 28 she had reached the semifinals of a major tournament for the first time. She had lost four career years because she suffered from anorexia.
In a highly acclaimed entry on Italy’s The Owl Post, she wrote: “I need to learn to eat anew and make peace with my wounds and my body. My past is my past and it helps me to be what I am today.” Trevisan is also one of the many disabled people in women’s tennis.