Serena Williams Sees Herself in Cori Gauff

Published 06/29/2019, 5:32 PM EDT

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As the best tennis players of the world have arrived in London for Wimbledon Championships 2019 and one of the young girls from the United States, Cori Gauff hit the headlines by qualifying for Wimbledon’s main draw. With the 15-year-old American playing Venus Williams in her first ever Grand Slam’s main draw match, Serena Williams revealed her excitement for the opening round encounter between Venus and Cori. 

After watching Gauff playing tennis, Serena Williams recalled her inception years on the circuit and the training days which she spent with her father. Like Richard Williams wanted his daughters to be like Virginia Ruzici (a Romanian French Open champion), similarly, Gauff’s father aspires Cori to have a Grand Slam record like Serena has.

“She’s such a fantastic young lady,” said Serena Williams at her pre-Wimbledon press conference. “She works very hard. Every time I have work, I see her out there working, training, her and her dad. It reminds me of the time where I was out there with my dad. I can’t help but look inside of myself and be proud and be happy for her.”

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Venus is 24 years older to Gauff and she won her first two Slams even before the American prodigy was born. Gauff is the youngest contender in the draw and Venus is one among the oldest WTA players on the tour.

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In one of her on-court interviews during the Wimbledon qualifiers, Gauff mentioned, “they’re (Serena and Venus) the reason I wanted to pick up a tennis racket.” The American teenager now takes on one of her idols, while her friends back in Florida are still attending high schools.

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“It’s a great moment for her (Gauff) and for Venus,” said Serena Williams. “She’s playing against a player that actually reminds me of Venus, her body and everything. It will be a good match. I might watch but I always get nervous watching Venus, ah, so it’s really nice to see,” Serena added.

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World Number 11, Serena Williams will take on an Italian qualifier, Giulia Gatto-Monticone in the opening round of the Wimbledon Championships 2019.

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Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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