Coco Gauff burst forward in her first week at Wimbledon, but the 15-year-old’s fairy-tale journey ended on Monday with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Simona Halep.
Talent
Anyone who watched her matches in the first week will know how talented Gauff is. This is a girl good enough to go toe to toe with the five-times champion Venus Williams in the first round and then, when things got tough in the third against Polona Hercog, had the ability to change her game, showing plenty of variety to get the job done. To be this good at 15 is something special and it is remarkable how much she has improved in the past 12 months. As Serena Williams said: “There are some 15-year-olds, like me, who wouldn’t know what to do at Wimbledon. Then you have a 15-year-old like Coco who knows what to do. I think she’s definitely on a different level, so I think she’s totally capable and ready, to be honest.” Gauff’s serve is already a big weapon – her fastest so far is 117mph (189kmh) – her two-handed backhand is a thing of beauty, especially when she flicks it cross‑court. Her sliced backhand is decent, too, as she showed against Hercog, and she is happy to approach the net, which is a good sign.
Athleticism
It is only 13 months since Gauff was winning the junior title at the French Open and anyone who saw that will remember a young, slight girl with plenty of talent. A year on and she has grown into an athlete with speed to burn. Some of the balls she reached against Williams and Hercog almost defied belief and she moves so well her quickness rattles her opponents, who often go for broke fearing she will run them down. Serena Williams pointed out the similarities between Gauff and Venus, from the way they played to the way they move, and if Gauff is half the athlete Venus has been over two decades on tour, she will have a great career. “Very fit,” as Hercog said, succinctly. Also her powerful legs are the springboard for her serve, her smash and everything she does.
Heart
Gauff’s match against Hercog should be a reference point whenever people ask how much she wants to succeed. Down a set and 5-2, she dug deep, saving two match points – one at 5-2 and another at 5-3 – and then, having let slip a 4-1 lead in the deciding set as Hercog recovered her poise, she pushed on again for the win. This is a girl who really wants to win, loves playing, loves competing and will try her best on every single point, the kind of attitude we see from Rafael Nadal. The former French Open champion Iva Majoli, who also played her first grand slam match shortly after her 15th birthday, said desire was the key to success at a young age. “You can see her passion for the game, you can see she really wants it badly, it’s admirable,” Majoli said. “It brings back a lot of memories, I think she just works very hard and it’s showing.”
Mental strength
When Gauff learned she was going to play Venus Williams in the first round, Patrick Mouratoglou – the coach of Serena Williams who has known and worked with the 15-year-old for a few years – was delighted to see the excitement in her eyes. She was not overwhelmed, or disappointed at not getting a “lesser” player on her grand slam debut, she knew it was an opportunity. Although she gets excited on court at the big moments, she is generally incredibly calm, allowing her to play her best tennis when needed. Hercog said: “She’s probably older in her head than the numbers show. She’s very young and she has the mentality to do it.” And as Mouratoglou said, she had been prepared for this moment for many years. “I can feel the pressure that she has,” he said. “It’s not that she doesn’t care about it, she feels it but you can see that she finds a way to deal with it … which is amazing.”
Star power
The BBC releases its TV peak viewing figures after each day of the championships and even though Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been front and center, it has been the efforts of Gauff that have had most people on the edge of their seats. Her comeback win against Hercog pulled in a peak audience of 5.2 million people, way above the next highest match, which was the Nadal-Nick Kyrgios blockbuster, at 3.7 million. It helps, of course, that she has been playing her matches in the late afternoon/early evening, but that is just because American TV is requesting she play late, an indication of her pulling power. With sponsorship deals worth $1m this year alone, she is going to be very wealthy, if her tennis keeps improving at the current rate. Social media has been going crazy for her too with everyone from Barack Obama to the actor Reese Witherspoon expressing their support. She is fun, outgoing and happy to chat, and looks like she enjoys the limelight, which can only help.
The Guardian Sport
