Wimbledon: Cori Gauff says ‘I want to be the greatest’ as 15-year-old shocks Venus Williams
- American teenager echoes words of boxing icon Muhammad Ali after beating her idol and five-time champion Williams
- ‘If she isn’t world No 1 by the time she’s 20 I’d be absolutely shocked,’ says John McEnroe
When American high school student Cori Gauff began the 2019 season ranked 875 in the world, not many would have given her a second glance, let alone predicted that six months later she would set Wimbledon alight.
The 15-year-old who used to think “it’s weird for people to take pictures of me” had better get used to the spotlight since she was the talk of the town on Monday after beating her idol and five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round.
Not satisfied with pulling off one of the all-time shocks in Wimbledon history, Gauff, who is known as Coco, wasted little time in declaring her long-term goals.
“I want to be the greatest,” she said, echoing the kind of words that became synonymous with boxing icon Muhammad Ali.
The youngest player in the singles draw certainly delivered an almighty knockout punch to floor Williams, who at 39 was the oldest woman in the Wimbledon women’s singles draw.
“I wasn’t surprised that I won. My dad told me that I could do this when I was eight. My goal is to win it [Wimbledon],” the world number 313, who needed a wild card to play in qualifying, said following her 6-4, 6-4 win.