When your favorite artist is about to drop a new album, or the author you’ve discovered on BookTok is releasing their debut novel — you want it to live up to the hype.
This feeling extends to the sports stars we follow in the media.
Coco Gauff, the groundbreaking 19-year-old taking the tennis world by storm, is the one to watch after her first Grand Slam win at the U.S. Open this past month. This makes her the first American teenager to win the U.S. Open since Serena Williams in 1999. While you may believe the professional tennis season is over with the U.S. Open in the rearview and the Australian Open still three months away, it is not.
The top female players are gearing up for the WTA finals in Cancun, as well as playing in other WTA tournaments overseas (currently the China Open in Beijing) leading up to the finals. Gauff is among the first set of singles qualifiers for the WTA finals. She has additionally qualified in doubles with her partner Jessica Pegula. Gauff will be making her debut at the China Open (Sept. 30-Oct. 8) and the Zhengzhou Open (Oct. 9-Oct. 15) before the finals.
Since she was 15 years old and beat Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon in 2019, the expectations for Gauff have been raised year after year by commentators, journalists, coaches, players, and fans alike. The question on everyone’s mind being: will she live up to the hype or peak before her prime?
The revolving door of women’s singles champions since Serena Williams last won a Grand Slam has left a hole in women’s tennis. Especially compared to the dominating presence from the big three in men’s singles: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. And with Federer retired and Nadal planning his in 2024, 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz is a compelling prospect to follow in the legends’ footsteps.
Men’s tennis has matchups and rivalries that captivate audiences and fill stadiums. Women’s tennis — these days — has more one-hit-wonders that you may never hear from again. Gone are the days of Margaret Court vs. Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert, Serena vs. Venus Williams: sensational matches and players you could count on and that would keep you watching until you knew the outcome.
“Women’s tennis during the past decade is replete with players who won a Grand Slam in their late teens or early 20s, then struggled for the next year to win three matches in a tournament,” veteran sports journalist Mark Futterman said in The New York Times.
With Serena’s legacy behind us, Naomi Osaka just returning from a mental health break and maternity leave, Ashleigh Barty retired after her peak at No. 1, teen-champion Emma Raducanu coming back from injury, and Ons Jabeur getting beat by Marketa Vondrousova during Wimbledon this year — spectators have been waiting for a thrilling streak that leads to consistent wins in women’s tennis. Gauff has the potential to fill this hole; nearly 3.4 million people watched her U.S. Open win, making it “the most-viewed women’s final of any tennis major ever broadcast on ESPN” as reported in Forbes.
Sabalenka and Swiatek are curating excellent wins, but they don’t have a comparable “style of play, celebration, shape and smiles both on and off the court” — as sports writer Gowon Akpodonor put it — that made us fall in love with Serena and are making us fall for Gauff.
Gauff has been climbing the rankings and keeping her name relevant for the past five years since she won the junior French Open in 2018. She hasn’t given up, and she hasn’t disappeared. She’s made it to finals, and she’s been eliminated in first rounds. She’s been in the WTA 600s, and now she’s in the top five (in singles and doubles). What Gauff achieved at just 15 years old, Serena and Venus didn’t achieve until they were 16 and 17. She is persistent to make a mark on the tennis world before people have the chance to forget her name.
Gauff has now defeated the former No. 1 Swiatek and the new No. 1 Sabalenka. She won the Mubadala Citi DC Open (the youngest player to ever win) and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (first teen champion since 1968) this year. She also played in the French Open finals last year. These stats combined have earned her a new career-high ranking of No. 3. Apart from her wins this year, she has also demonstrated how humble, genuine, and composed she has grown to be.
After her U.S. Open quarterfinal win against Jelena Ostapenko, Gauff told reporters, “At first I used to think negative things. Like why is there so much pressure? Why is this so hard? … I realize in a way it’s pressure but it’s not. I mean, there are people struggling to feed their families, people who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, people who have to pay their bills.
That’s the real pressure, that’s the real hardship, that’s real life. I’m in a very privileged position, I’m getting paid to do what I love and getting support to do what I love. That’s something I just don’t take for granted.”
Unfortunately, as Futterman points out, “tennis has a tendency to eat its young like few other sports.” With the potential for injury and the mental pressure, let alone the impossible expectations from the press, young tennis players have the odds stacked against them. When Osaka beat Serena in the 2018 U.S. Open finals, the stadium filled with boos during the trophy ceremony due to a conflict between Serena and the umpire. Though the crowd wasn’t directly booing Osaka, the situation left her in tears. In 2021 Osaka would go on to refuse news conferences and eventually announce a break from the sport to protect her mental health.
She may have been a bright star that burned out too soon. Viewers will see how her game has recovered when she returns at the start of the 2024 season.
As said best by Futterman, “Sports journeys don’t always follow the narratives that fans hope they might.” This is Gauff’s life, not ours. We can’t dictate how well she plays in a match. But we can celebrate with her during wins as we would commiserate with her during losses. We can keep rooting for her.
It’s inspiring to see a strong, persistent young woman achieve the dreams she’s had since she was a kid watching Serena and Venus on the courts. Her experience speaks to the little girl — the little kid — in a lot of us. And maybe this is what draws us to her so greatly.
Since Gauff’s been in the public eye, we’ve been waiting for her to win a Grand Slam, and she’s done it. She’s lived up to the hype for the time being. Now, perhaps, we expect more. But we should only expect her to be the best that she can and not ask her to be anyone else. Federer believes “there is no shortage of good stories in tennis,” but Gauff’s story could be exceptional.
We’ll just have to wait and see as she keeps herself limber at the upcoming WTA tournaments and makes a splash at Grand Slams next year. While I won’t say, I hope she’s the next Serena (because as Gauff adamantly attests, Serena is irreplaceable), she could be the next enduring success for women’s tennis full of momentum, stamina, and spirit.