15-Years-Old Cori Gauff Takes Out Venus Williams at Wimbledon 2019—Here’s What You Need to Know about Her

The 2019 Wimbledon Championships is currently underway. Yesterday, Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff, a 15-year-old American defeated her idol Venus Williams in the first round of the Ladies’ Singles with a score of 6-4 6-4. This is five-times champion Venus’s second defeat in the first round of the tournament since her debut in 1997.

 Source: standard.co.uk

An ecstatic Cori told reporters, “At the end I was just telling her thank you for everything she's done. She and her sister have been heroes for me and many other little girls out there.”

 

So, who is Cori Gauff?

 

Cori began playing tennis at the age of six. Although she has taken up playing tennis full-time now, she has previously competed in track and basketball. She has been training at the Mouratoglou Academy, France, since the age of 10. She was selected by Patrick Mouratoglou who is Serena Williams’s coach. In 2014, she won U12 USTA Clay Court Nationals tournament and in 2016, she won the Girls’ 12s Junior Orange Bowl.

 

In a NYTimes interview, her coach said, “Consider the pressure that she has to deal with since a few years already. Because she’s making history — at her level, it’s not like Serena — but she’s the youngest to do this, to do that, and the expectations are unbelievable. I’ve seen her very tight and very much under pressure on several occasions. She’s always fighting, and she’s still winning.”

Source: wtatennis.com

 

Cori came into limelight when she became the youngest-ever finalist in the girls’ singles event at the 2017 US Open. In 2018, she won her first Junior Grand Slam Title at the French Open. This year, at Wimbledon, she had a world ranking of 313 but she still managed to be the youngest player (since Laura Robson in 2009) in the Open Era to qualify for the main draw of the tournament. Right before her final qualifying match, Cori stayed up late to prepare for a science test she had the previous day. After her win, Cori said, “On my science test, I got a B. Today I’d give myself an A. Hopefully my next test I can get an A but you never know.”

 

It wasn’t a mean feat, but Cori was given a wildcard and she told reporters, “I'm super-shocked but I'm just super-blessed that Wimbledon decided to give me the wildcard.” She also added, “My goal is to win it. I want to be the greatest.”

 

Speaking about Cori, Venus said, “I think the sky's the limit, it really is. She did everything well today. She put the ball in the court, which was much better than I did. She served well, moved well. It was a great match for her."

 

Currently, Cori is being coached by Jean-Christophe Faurel and is a part of 'Team Mouratoglou'. You can watch her in action in the video below:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdr7s10gUeE

 

Cori next faces Slovak player Magdaléna Rybáriková on July 3rd.