CELEBRITY
Coco Gauff on wanting to win TEN Grand Slams, living at home with her parents despite $15M prize money – and how she’ll go all the way at Wimbledon
Coco Gauff has declared she wants to win at least 10 grand slams.
When I first met Coco Gauff in 2019, the 15-year-old talked about her exams, her parents and her ambition to be the best tennis player of all-time.
She had just qualified for Wimbledon and was about to face her hero Venus Williams in the first round. Her eyes seemed wide with wonder, yet narrowed with focus all at the same time.
It was clear this articulate teenager was something special, but no-one was ready for the sporting and cultural phenomenon that was about to be unleashed.
Five years later, we meet again on the same day, the Saturday before Wimbledon, to reflect on that extraordinary Championships debut and what has happened since.
Gauff is now a Grand Slam champion and has transcended tennis, ever since as a 16-year-old she passionately addressed a crowd outside Delray Beach city hall in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.