Coco Gauff will hope to cause waves at the US Open, but will first flick her attention to the Cincinnati Masters as her final warm-up event.
Gauff stunned Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open back in June but succumbed to a first-round exit at Wimbledon in the next Grand Slam.
Lindsay Davenport shared how Gauff might prepare for Cincinnati after her shock exit to eventual winner Victoria Mboko at the Canadian Open.
Gauff defended Mboko after losing to her and now, she’s been discussing another player who is at the other end of her career completely.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty ImagesCoco Gauff shares how she will feel playing Venus Williams again
For Williams, there was no fairytale at the Cincinnati Masters as she lost in the first round to Spanish performer Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in straight sets.
Before that match, Gauff was quizzed on the legendary player and asked how she might feel if she had to come up against the star she famously dumped out of Wimbledon in 2019.
Gauff will perhaps look to use Sabalenka as an inspiration as she aims to become more consistent with reaching the latter stages of big events and it appears she’d have no qualms with playing Venus again any time soon.
She said in her press conference: “It feels surreal from the standpoint of how amazing she is. When I played her at Wimbledon, I honestly did not think that I would still see her on Tour at 21, just from an honest standpoint.
“I remember treasuring that moment at Wimbledon and having to draw her at the Australian Open. I was like, okay, this will probably be one of the last few times.
“Now that she is playing on Tour and also playing great, there is definitely a higher chance that we will play each other again and I look forward to it. Because any time you can step on court with a legend is special, regardless of the result.
“It’s something that I can tell my kids and everything like that. Honestly, for people who don’t watch tennis, maybe before the US Open, or honestly, the referee incident, people knew me most by that. They were like you are the little girl who beat V. I was like yes.
“So that for me, out of the accomplishments in my career, is probably always going to be top three.”
Gauff will eye a third major at the US Open
The talented youngster has accomplished so much in the world of tennis already, and as a result, all eyes will be on her at Flushing Meadows in a few weeks.
First, she needs to prepare properly and try to go as deep as possible when her participation in the Cincinnati Masters gets underway.
Gauff has beaten Williams twice, once at Wimbledon and once at the Australian Open, with every focus likely to be centred on Gauff should the pair ever meet again.
Gauff has to correct her double-fault habit, but remarkably, she’s still so young and for her, everything will undoubtedly click into place at some point, and she can start winning a number of big titles for her ever-growing collection.
Gauff’s win over Venus will never be forgotten after it sent shockwaves across the world of tennis, but thankfully, she has other accolades she can look back on now and hasn’t been proving to be a one-hit wonder.