"If it wasn't for Venus and Serena Williams, she would not be a tennis player" - Coco Gauff's mother Candi

Coco Gauff's rise on the WTA tour has been highly talked-about within tennis circles in recent times. The youngster, at 18 years and five months, is the youngest player ranked inside the world's top 100.

Similarities between her story — finding almost immediate success and the undeniable talent — and that of the Williams sisters are palpable.

While Gauff's father Corey has talked about wanting to have her daughter become a tennis player only after watching Venus and Serena Williams succeed on the big stage, a detailed interview with ESPN — which featured daughter Coco and wife Candi in addition to Corey himself has shed a whole different light on the youngster's formative years.

In one of the most endearing parts of the interview, Coco's mother Candi said her daughter would not have been a tennis player had it not been for the Williams sisters. Similarly, she said her husband would not have been taken to tennis had it not been for Richard Williams — Venus and Serena’s father as well as the coach.

"If it wasn't for the Williams sisters, Coco would not be a tennis player," Candi says. "And if it wasn't for Richard, my husband would not have studied tennis in that format. He's patented himself off [Richard Williams] and used their roadmap."

Candi said that both she and Corey wanted to do what was best for daughter Coco's tennis career — whether it was the move to Delray Beach for training or offering unconditional support.

"He said, 'I think you should go home [to Delray Beach] for a year with Coco. That's where the best tennis is.' Our job as parents is to help support them to be the best they can possibly be, I didn't want to look back and say, what could I have done?" she said.

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Coco Gauff's mother recalls breakthrough moment for the youngster

Coco Gauff recently became the World No. 1 in the doubles.

Candi also reflected on what she thought had been the exact breakthrough moment in her daughter's young career so far.

Recalling one of her first professional matches, a qualification round where Coco lost 6-1, 6-1, Candi said she told her daughter Coco Gauff that a certain fire was missing from her game shortly after the defeat.

She added that after pointing out that she had all the weapons needed to win any contest, young Coco's mindset changed for the better.

"I said, 'I don't see no fire. I don't see that you want to be out there.' We sacrifice, but we sacrifice knowing you're giving your best. And what I saw today was not your best," Candi Gauff recalled.

"You know how to return a serve, right? You know how to hit a tennis ball? How to run after every point? Then you know how to win every match. That was the change. From that moment on, it was like, boom," she stated.