"Playing Serena Williams at Wimbledon would have messed up my story"

Coco Gauff has consistently expressed her admiration for the Williams sisters since gaining prominence. In a recent interview, she stated that facing Serena Williams at Wimbledon would have messed up her (tennis) story because she wasn't prepared at that time.

Gauff turned pro in 2018 but didn't cross paths with Serena Williams until the 23-time Grand Slam winner retired in 2022. Gauff only had the opportunity to face her elder sister, Venus Williams, and won against her on two occasions.

Vogue, an American fashion and lifestyle magazine, published an interview with the World No. 3 on their official website on Wednesday, March 6. During the interview, she was asked how she felt about playing Venus but not Serena.

Gauff posited that in a perfect world, she would have played both of the Williams sisters once. She said:

“If I had the perfect world I would have gotten to play both, But Serena retired and I played Venus twice. In my perfect world I would have played Venus once and Serena once”

Serena Williams won the Wimbledon Championships seven times during her career. She also secured six Wimbledon doubles titles, partnering with her sister Venus.

Gauff added that if she had faced Serena instead of Venus at Wimbledon, her story would have been different because she wasn't ready to face the former at that time. She added:

“Playing Serena at Wimbledon, I don’t know, I feel like it would have messed up my story, I wasn’t ready for Serena at that time"

Gauff's first encounter with Venus was in the first round of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. The then 15-year-old, who came in as a qualifier, stunned the five-time Wimbledon winner with a straight-set victory.

The second time they competed was in the first round of the 2020 Australian Open, and Gauff came out victorious in straight sets again.

Coco Gauff will be competing at the 2024 Indian Wells open

The 2024 Indian Wells Open is the fourth edition in which Coco Gauff will be participating, since her first appearance in 2021.

Gauff came into this year's edition as the third seed and, therefore, has received a bye into the second round, where she will face the winner between Xiyu Wang and Clara Burel on Friday, March 8.

In 2021 and 2022, the American was knocked out in the third round of the tournament. She then broke her personal best record when she reached the quarterfinals in 2023.