Venus Williams comments on viral photo of 8-year-old Coco Gauff watching her

10/19/2024 06:06 PM

Venus Williams called Coco Gauff "fantastic" and also shared that she is rooting for her to "win every match" before highlighting that the 20-year-old is a great example of how dreams can become reality.

Anyone who is familiar with Gauff's journey, knows extremely well that the world No. 3 grew up watching and idolizing the Williams sisters. And she is never shying away from having those conversations and acknowledging how much she was inspired by the two legends. 

Earlier this year, one of those moments happened after the USTA dug up a photo of an eight-year-old Coco watching the seven-time Grand Slam champion against Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the 2012 US Open. 

"WOWWWWWWW NO WAY SOMEONE FOUND THIS. THAT IS ME WATCHING VENUS at the US Open. didn't even know the tv caught me in the stands. whoever found this shoutout to you ong (on God). THIS IS CRAZY. time flies. 1o1 I def was looking at the jumbotron to see if the camera was showing me lol. thank you for sharing!" Gauff wrote on her Instagram Story at the time. 

Also, she reposted the picture on X and wrote: “If this isn't proof that your dreams are closer than you think then idk what is."

if this isn’t proof that your dreams are closer than you think then idk what is pic.twitter.com/EwVxVhM7jy

— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) April 11, 2024

This week, the former world No. 1 was a guest on the Tamron Hall Show. At one point, the host showed the 44-year-old on a screen how the 20-year-old reacted to the viral USTA photo. 

"I mean it's so exciting to see her just like… explode. She is fantastic, and of course, I hope she wins every match," Williams said.

Both Venus and Serena started enjoying major success early in their careers. And to no one's surprise, Gauff wanted to be just like them and that was one of the reasons why she was so keen on becoming a Grand Slam winner as a teenager. 

Considering that Gauff has two Grand Slam finals - one Slam title - and has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, it is safe to say that the 20-year-old has had an excellent start to her career. Reflecting on that, her idol says everything is possible as long as you work hard and believe that nothing is unreachable.

"Exactly. And you have to dream. Doesn't mean that there won't be turns all the way of the dream or someday there's gonna be ups and downs but as long as you have your north star…And there's times when you have to figure out how to do it another way. But all that is a part of… you have to dream big," Williams said. 

Venus Williams and Coco Gauff’s crossover is proof that dreams do come true! pic.twitter.com/ESsO39CfAe

— Tamron Hall Show (@TamronHallShow) October 17, 2024

The 2022 US Open was marked by Serena's farewell and retirement from pro tennis. The 2023 US Open edition brought another big story for American tennis after Gauff became a Slam winner in front of her home fans and became the first American woman since Sofia Kenin in 2020 to land a singles Major.

When last year's final at Flushing Meadows started, things didn't look good for the 20-year-old. But then, she impressively recovered to beat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2. 

While lifting her maiden Slam trophy and addressing the crowd, the world No. 3 made sure to give some major credit and shout-out to the Williams sisters. 

“Yes, it's crazy. I mean, they're the reason why I have this trophy today, to be honest. They have allowed me to believe in this dream, you know, growing up. You know, there wasn't too many just Black tennis players dominating the sport. It was literally, at that time when I was younger, it was just them that I can remember. Obviously, more came because of their legacy. So it made the dream more believable," the 2023 US Open winner said during the on-court trophy presentation.

"But all the things that they had to go through, they made it easier for someone like me to do this. I mean, you look back at the history with Indian Wells, with Serena, all she had to go through, Venus fighting for equal pay. Yeah, it's just, like, it's crazy and it's an honor to be in that kind of lineup as them. And I'm looking at it, and she's won this a lot of times (laughter)."

While Gauff played Venus twice and won both of their matches, she admitted that she will always regret never getting a chance to play Serena.