Every legendary generation is soon replaced by the next one, and that is a perpetual fact. Maria Sharapova may be thinking the same as how her generation’s legacy has been taken over by the current crop of young stars. The 5-time Grand Slam winner recently joined Jason Kelly of Bloomberg for a heart-to-heart conversation about the same. Kelly and Sharapova touched on many topics during their chat. However, a key point that piqued everyone’s interest was his question about the rising star Coco Gauff & the possibility of the 19-year-old edging out the great Serena Williams.

Coco Gauff has been always compared to Serena Williams, despite her not liking these big claims of putting her on the same pedestal as the 42-year-old legend. While even her trajectory has been slightly different from how Williams progressed, people often feel Gauff could emulate the 23-time Grand Slam winner’s career feats. Sharapova feels on the same lines too!

Sharapova’s words about Coco Gauff

Jason Kelly being the amazing journalist that he is, presented the question quite articulately. He asked Sharapova about her mentioning Coco earlier in the interview. Then he further added how in every sport people believe there will never be anyone like this. So how does Sharapova see the next generation coming through? Kelly was subtly hinting at Serena Williams and whether Gauff will be able to succeed her.

Sharapova without any hesitation said: “I think she’s the best thing that could have happened to women’s tennis. I like the way in which she won. She was someone who had the ability, talent, voice, and platform.” She appreciated Gauff and her abilities in the best way possible.

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She then followed with: “The expectations were so high and she did not quite meet them the first few years. The fact that she had to go through the ups and downs and then achieve something huge.” Maria acknowledged Gauff’s journey until now and the struggles she overcame.

Without dropping any names, Sharapova ended this by comparing Gauff with examples of other athletes who started young. In her words: “She already has the breathing space to fail and then get back on the stage. As opposed to some athletes who come out young and are victorious. Sometimes they can never find their true self going back to the basics.” She also mentioned how many players fail to find their way back to the top after an impressive start.

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Maria Sharapova criticizes the WTA

In the very same interview where Sharapova was appreciating Gauff for heat feats, she points out a blunder by the WTA as well. She highlighted how the WTA failed to market Gauff to the best of its capabilities. Sharapova mentioned how Gauff was celebrated after her win at the US Open: “You had Coco Gauff just winning her first Major at the US Open in New York City.” 

However, all that excitement was short-lived as she explained: “I mean the crowd, the bridging culture, sport, fashion, all at that moment… two weeks later, three weeks later… how many people know that she’s playing a tournament in Beijing.” According to her, the WTA could have promoted Gauff for a longer duration. Since very few people knew that Gauff would be appearing in the China Open.  This statement mainly hints at the fact that public perception plays a critical role in an athlete’s success.

Undoubtedly, Sharapova had an interesting take on the whole situation. While most would have failed to recognize the Gauff’s situation, Maria acknowledged it with great enthusiasm.

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