Billie Jean King narrates how Coco Gauff’s grandmother inspired the teen having broken racist stereotypes in the USA

Coco Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka to win the 2023 US Open title.

Billie Jean King narrates how Coco Gauff’s grandmother inspired the teen having broken racist stereotypes in the USA

(L) Billie Jean King; (R) Coco Gauff (Images via CNN, US Open)

American teen tennis sensation Coco Gauff lived up to the hype at the 2023 US Open as the 19-year-old lifted her maiden Grand Slam title. Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka in three sets of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reign supreme at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Upon receiving the trophy and then the prize money, the same as what the men’s singles champion got, Gauff thanked Billie Jean King, who made it possible. 

Now, after almost two weeks, Billie Jean King has lauded the youngster for her fighting spirit and revealed what she likes about the new US Open women’s champion. King also revealed a backstory on how Gauff got inspiration from her grandmother, who broke the stereotype by being the first Black child to go to an all-White school. 

YouTube video

“Coco winning was just fantastic. When I see her, she’s the reason we fought so hard 50 years ago. I think she’s such a force,” said Billie Jean King to People magazine. “It comes from her grandmother. Her grandmother was the first Black child to go to an all-White school in Delray.

FS Video

“To hear her story, if you’re a granddaughter and you’re hearing your grandmother talk about going to a white school, being the only Black child, I think she’s such a force. But I want her to be happy, number one. She’s really exciting to watch and a great athlete,” she said about Coco Gauff.

Also Read: “I don’t like playing her,” Iga Swiatek makes her thoughts clear on Jelena Ostapenko having failed to beat the Latvian yet again

Billie Jean King remembers struggles before US Open introduced equal pay

Apart from heaping praise on Coco Gauff, Billie Jean King also remembered her historic win over Bobby Riggs and the struggles for women’s tennis players before the US Open introduced equal pay. King said it was heartbreaking to see women’s sports not getting the same love as men’s.

Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King (Image via Getty Images)

“With women’s sports particularly, they paid a lot of attention to that match because there was a guy involved. If you got a guy involved, you got a lot more attention. I still think that holds true today to a certain degree, but not to the extent it was back then,” said King. Notably, King beat Riggs to get a cash prize money of $25,000, the same as a men’s player. Her fight for equal pay was achieved.

While the US Open announced the same prize money for men’s and women’s players in 1973, it took 34 years for the rest of the three Grand Slam events to announce it. Nevertheless, the women’s players get the same prize money as their male counterparts now and that is what Gauff had thanked King after receiving a USD 3 million after her title win in New York.

In case you missed!