Coco Gauff recalls peculiar circumstances when she first met Serena Williams - "That looks like Serena"
WTA
American tennis prodigy Coco Gauff was left speechless when she first met compatriot and idol Serena Williams, an encounter that has been ingrained in the 2023 US Open champion's memory.
Gauff has been touted as the next representative of American tennis likely to succeed Serena and sister Venus Williams. The 20-year old lifted her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2023, a few weeks after winning her first WTA 500 and WTA 1000 titles. Furthermore, Gauff has skyrocketed to the top of the WTA Rankings in a short period of time, reaching a career-high ranking of World No.2 in June 2024.
First meeting with Serena was purely coincidental
Having already revealed Serena Williams as her idol and greatest inspiration, Gauff finally got a chance to meet the WTA legend. In an episode of 'Hair Me Out' on Refinery29's Youtube Channel, Gauff recalled first meeting the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
"Serena and Venus, they’re my idols. So Serena was actually shooting a commercial at the same place I was practicing," recalled Gauff. “I saw somebody walking and I thought it was like a stunt double of her or something, and I thought ‘that looks like Serena.’
“She was walking over and I just kind of didn’t pay any attention to it and then I realized it was her and I was so excited. She came over there to just give me advice and speak to me.
"I look up to Serena too, with her looks and her hair and how she was never afraid to show her curls or her braids and with the beads, that was so iconic."
“She was walking over and I just kind of didn’t pay any attention to it and then I realized it was her and I was so excited. She came over there to just give me advice and speak to me.
"I look up to Serena too, with her looks and her hair and how she was never afraid to show her curls or her braids and with the beads, that was so iconic."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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