COCO Gauff has revealed that she made a special dinner as she watched Venus Williams’ recent comeback alongside her boyfriend.
Williams, 45, returned to action last month following 16 months off the WTA Tour.
Coco Gauff has spoken of her admiration for Venus Williams[/caption]
Gauff beat Williams aged 15 at Wimbledon in 2019[/caption]
Williams, 45, defeated Peyton Stearns in Washington DC[/caption]
Gauff, 21, was thrilled to see Williams return to action[/caption]
Having tasted victory on the doubles court, the American icon beat Peyton Stearns 6-3 6-4 in her singles first round at the Citi Open.
Gauff, 21, has frequently spoken of her admiration of the Williams sisters.
After winning her first Major at the US Open two years ago, the rising superstar said of Venus and Serena, “They’re the reason why I have this trophy today, to be honest.
“They have allowed me to believe in this dream growing up.”
Speaking to People ahead of this year’s US Open, Gauff revealed her excitement at watching Venus’ recent comeback.
The world No3 said, “I never cook, but I made dinner that night… Dinner and everything because I was so excited to watch her play.
“That was the first match I’ve been excited to watch in a while. My boyfriend was with me and I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t wait’.”
Gauff then joked that she wanted one of her fellow American pals to hurry up with his match.
The two-time Major champion added, “She was after Ben Shelton, and I was like, ‘Ben needs to wrap this up. I can’t wait to see Venus’.”
Williams went on to lose to Magdalena Frech in round two of the Citi Open.
The tennis icon skipped Canada before returning again in Cincinnati.
Williams lost respectably to in-form Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4 6-4 in Cincy.
The tour veteran has been handed a wildcard to play singles at the US Open.
First she will take part in the controversially revamped US Open mixed doubles event.
Williams has received a wildcard alongside Reilly Opelka, the booming 6ft 11in big server who has previously called doubled specialists “failed singles players”.
The team will take on Andrey Rublev and Karolina Muchova in round one of the event.
Gauff, meanwhile, has opted to skip the mixed doubles in order to focus on her singles campaign.
The home favorite was beaten in the Cincinnati quarter-finals by Jasmine Paolini last week.
This result, coupled with Iga Swiatek winning the title, saw Gauff fall from No2 to No3 in the world.
This means that she could potentially face No1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows, in what would be a tasty rematch of their two Grand Slam finals.
