The rise of some stars began when they took down a legend on the court. Coco Gauff entered the 2019 Wimbledon as a qualifier and defeated Venus Williams! At just 15, she beat her idol and the five-time Wimbledon champion in the first round of the main draw. Now, years later, Coco is a Grand Slam champion herself. How does Venus feel about being part of her journey?

Right now, Venus isn’t competing at the French Open, but she’s back at Roland Garros as a commentator with TNT! It’s as exciting as it gets. Sloane Stephens joins her on TNT’s fun on-court commentary panel — and Coco, through to round three, stays busy on court! While discussing tennis battles, Venus opened up about their shared history.

She spoke about her early beginnings as a young girl from Compton and being defeated by rising stars. Venus said, “You guys inspire me at the end of the day, too. And you guys have played so well against me, too. These two have beat me and they didn’t care!” Both Coco and Sloane yelled out, “I did!” The seven-time GS champion replied, “Well, it felt like I was like, ‘is this what I deserve?’ This is actually therapy right now.”

Coco explained how she felt facing Venus for the first time. She said, “To be fair, when I played you, I just tried to pretend that it wasn’t you. I was like, ‘I’m going to pretend that it’s somebody else, because I can’t take this right now’.” That’s fair. She was just 15, facing her childhood idol! Gauff was even known for her famous ‘Call Me Maybe’ dance during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the 2012 US Open as an eight-year-old. Imagine going from that to competing against Venus Williams in her debut Wimbledon match!

Sloane, on the other hand, recalled a different memory. When asked how she felt seeing Venus on the draw, she said, “It was awful. No, we played here and I was like, ‘No no no no. It can’t be. Wrong draw. It’s not, it wasn’t me,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my, God’.” When Venus asked who won, Sloane shyly replied, “Me.” Venus said, “Sounds about right. At the French Open, too.”

They were talking about their 2015 showdown. Exactly ten years ago, Venus suffered another early French Open exit, losing 7-6, 6-1 to Sloane Stephens in the first round. It wasn’t a big surprise, though—Stephens had reached the fourth round of the clay court Grand Slam in the past three years.

Back to Coco Gauff—she even played doubles with Venus! When an image popped up of the two at the 2021 French Open, they got excited. Coco quickly remembered how the match played out. They lost their first-round doubles match at the French Open. They played Ellen Perez and Saisai Zheng.

That loss frustrated a young Gauff, who broke her racket. But she remembers the moment with Venus more. She said, “Is this the doubles? I broke a racket this match. And Venus is like, ‘She did that because she had to.’ That’s what she told the ref. I broke the racket.” Maybe it’s from watching Serena break a few rackets that Venus decided to back up the young star! But only Venus can answer that.

In the end, Venus holds nothing but respect for her younger opponents. She said, “You both are so humble. You deserved every win and I knew that. And it was shocking how good you guys both were and are, so you deserved it. I can get over it now that we’ve talked.” Or, as Sloane concluded, “Now we have closure.”

It’s funny to think how far Coco has come since then! She’s won the 2023 US Open and eight titles in the last seven years. But as Venus said, she’s humble. And she never misses a chance to show her gratitude to the Williams sisters for being such great inspirations.

Coco credits Serena and Venus Williams for paving the way for her US Open win

Back in 2023, a 19-year-old from Florida lit up Arthur Ashe Stadium with a comeback for the ages. Coco Gauff rallied from a set down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, right where she once watched the Williams sisters make history. With that win, Gauff joined the ranks of Black American women champions—names like Serena, Venus, Althea Gibson, and Sloane Stephens.

After her victory, Gauff made it clear who inspired her journey. “It’s crazy. I mean, they’re the reason why I have this trophy today, to be honest,” she said. “They have allowed me to believe in this dream growing up. You know, there wasn’t too many just Black tennis players dominating the sport. It was literally just them that I can remember when I was younger.” She added, “Obviously more came because of their legacy. So it made the dream more believable. But all the things that they had to go through, they made it easier for someone like me to do this.”

Gauff also pointed to the Williams sisters’ impact off the court, from their 14-year Indian Wells boycott to Venus’s fight for equal pay. “You look back at the history with Indian Wells, with Serena, all she had to go through, Venus fighting for equal pay,” Gauff said. “Words can’t describe what (Serena and Venus Williams) meant to me. I hope another girl can see this and believe they can do it and hopefully their name can be on this trophy too.”

Now, Gauff is gearing up to face Marie Bouzkova in her next round. Could she snag a title that even Venus never claimed? It’s going to be exciting to watch! What do you think—does Coco have it in her? Let us know in the comments!