Going Loco for ‘Coco’

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

Remember the name.

Aged 15 years and 122 days, America’s @CocoGauff becomes the youngest #Wimbledon qualifier in the Open Era after beating Greet Minnen 6-1, 6-1 pic.twitter.com/PSWlOiRNkB

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 27, 2019

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.