Last year, during an interview, Coco Gauff spoke about how Venus and Serena Williams “made a difference” to her at the start of her burgeoning tennis career. She has time and again credited the Williams sisters for creating the love and passion for the sport inside her. From seeing them lift titles on the TV screen to clinching the same big titles in her professional career, Gauff has come a long way, and so has American women’s tennis in general. This year, we’ve seen plenty of American women’s stars, including Gauff and Keys, doing wonders at the major events, and guess what? Currently, there are five American women in the Top 11 of the singles ranking!
What’s the secret to this rapid success over the past couple of years, specifically? Previously, we heard Gauff speak about watching Venus Williams play at the US Open, along with her dad, from the second row at the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium. Highlighting that unforgettable moment of watching her idol from such a close distance made her say, “That’s what pushes me to keep going. Just because the sport is predominantly white, you believe you can do that passion when you see somebody that looks like you being successful.”
All, she now hopes to be that belief for somebody else. The 21-year-old Coco Gauff is now not only ranked second in the world, but she has already won two major titles in her career, with the latest coming this year at the 2025 French Open. She’s now all set to start her campaign at the North American hard-court swing in Montreal, but before that, she was asked to speak a little bit about the main factors behind the recent surge in American women’s tennis. In reply to this, Gauff said, “I think well, I guess if we go like long-term effect…for sure the Williams sisters and making tennis I feel like a more popular sport for people to play in the US.”
Having said that, she also mentioned, “Obviously, we have great icons like Chris Evert and Lindsay Davenport, but I didn’t grow up watching them, and I don’t know if a lot of the players right now in the Top 10 grew up watching them.” Gauff also spoke about how tennis has become a very popular sport among women in the US. Other than drawing motivation from these tennis greats, what else has led to this recent rise in American women’s tennis?
Replying to this, Coco Gauff admitted that seeing one person do well made others step up as well. “I think you see one person do well and you’ve probably beaten them in a practice set once in a time ago, and you’re like, ‘Okay, if they made a grand slam final, then I can too,’ and I think that’s what we have the camaraderie amongst us,” said Gauff. Other than their strong camaraderie, she also spoke about how they root for each other, practice with each other, and help elevate each other’s game in various ways.
So, the secret to the recent success is more of a combination of all of these, and Coco Gauff feels “great” to see American tennis doing well on both sides, but especially on the women’s side.
Coco Gauff wins the French Open French Open Tennis, Day Fourteen, Tennis, Roland Garros, Paris, France – 07 Jun 2025 EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or live services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxGRExMLTxCYPxROUxBULxUAExKSAxCHNxDENxINDxITAxPORxESPxSWExTURxMEXxCOLxVENxPERxECUxBRAxARGxCHIxURUxPARxPANxONLY Copyright: xJavierxGarcia/Shutterstockx 15346223ax
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