Going Loco for ‘Coco’

At 15 years old, Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff defeats Venus Williams in stunning first round upset

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Cori Gauff, 15 year old who beat Venus Williams (Image Source- CNN)
Cori Gauff, 15 year old who beat Venus Williams (Image Source- CNN)

June 27th, Wimbledon’s official twitter account posted ‘Remember the name.’

Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff, who at 15 years and 122 days had just become the youngest ever qualifier at Wimbledon in the open era. Fast forward 4 days and if we didn’t know her name before, we will never forget it now.

Facing Venus Williams, one of the most experienced tennis players in women’s history and winner of 5 Wimbledon singles titles, in the first round many would assume that this story would have an early end, a fleeting but memorable first grand slam match against someone whom Gauff idolised growing up. When you meet your idols in real life, just getting a photo or having a chance to speak to them can be a dream come true. Defeating them 6-4, 6-4 on Court 1 of Wimbledon must have been some sort of dream for Gauff but one in which we all have the pleasure of sharing. Stunning the crowd and the world, Gauff played with confidence and dominance as Williams had no answers and was outclassed on a surface Venus has typically dominated.

Williams, like everyone else in the arena, stood in astonishment as Gauf pulled off one if the most remarkable victories and one can’t help but see this as a potential passing of the torch. For Williams, she has inspired so many, broken down barriers and achieved more than most ever will. For Gauff, the sky is the limit. No longer is this wildcard entry just making up the numbers. She has announced herself to the world and made sure that we will all remember where we were on this day.

 


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Kieran Petrik-Bruce is a writer, Deakin University Arts graduate, book lover and sports nut who loves to spend his free time writing, reading and, talking about sport. When he isn’t talking about sport he is playing dodgeball and has competed 3 times for Australia internationally in dodgeball between 2016-2018. As an Arts graduate from Deakin University with a major in journalism, Kieran wants to share his passion for sport with the rest of the world and to travel the world and have the rest of the world share their many passions and experiences with him.