“They made a huge impact on my life!” Coco Gauff calls out real-life “heroes” Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and LeBron James as her biggest inspirations
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Coco Gauff, LeBron James, Venus Williams and Serena Williams
Coco Gauff, the young American cruised into the second round to face Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the second round of the 2022 US Open with a comfortable first-round win over Leolia Jeanjean of France in straight sets . She is yet to win a singles Grand Slam title but still is backed to be the upcoming flag bearer in American tennis as she has a couple of years of experience on the Tour already and is becoming a better player with every passing tournament.
She reached her first singles Grand Slam finals at the 2022 French Open but lost to the eventual winner Iga Swiatek who had been flawless in the clay season. She even made it to the finals in the doubles category with partner Jessica Pegula for the very first time at Roland Garros. Her stint at the 2022 Wimbledon Championship was short-lived facing a third-round exit to Amanda Anisimova. She had a fair amount of wins on the hard-court season reaching the quarter-finals at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic and also at the Canadian Open but failed to make it deep at the Western & Southern Open following an early-round exit.
“I hope people get inspired by me!” Coco Gauff hopeful of being a role model in the future
Coco Gauff, the young prodigy during an interview, revealed about her real-life heroes and how different her life was which was easier when compared to the life of Serena Williams and Venus Williams. She said “I think heroes are important. You look at Serena Williams and Venus Williams, the situation they came through, not having as much money financially and coming through a tough neighborhood in Compton. I know I live a better life than they probably did. I would say I lived a pretty privileged life. My parents made enough money to support me and never had to think about financial things. My parents are still together. That’s a privilege. So I think in a way I acknowledge that.“
She hoped to become an inspiration for the future and understand her responsibility. She added “I think for me, even knowing that it made me feel that I could do it. So I hope that somebody can look at me and say that I feel like I can do it because she did it. You know, you have these heroes like LeBron James, Allyson Felix, the list goes on, Simone Biles, you have these heroes living their lives and you can’t imagine how inspiring it is to see that. It is so important, to be honest.“
She also felt everybody has their own share of ups and downs and it should be acknowledged irrespective of their achievements. She further added “I feel like there is a stigma too that people think because you have this life, everything’s perfect; it’s not true. Everybody has their own inner demons that they are fighting. But I do acknowledge maybe my battle’s a little bit easier. Even off-court heroes, Billie Jean King, Barack Obama, and Mrs. Michelle Obama, it’s something I can’t really put into words how much of an impact, they probably don’t know, they had on my life as a kid. I think for kids to see is important“
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)