"I was waiting for Coco to get there" - Maria Sharapova believes the young American will transcend tennis
WTA
Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova returned to her old stomping grounds during the Championships this week, where the retired Russian tennis star was full of praise for rising American prodigy, Coco Gauff.
Sharapova won her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, defeating WTA legend Serena Williams in the final at just the age of 17. The Russian would go on to have a distinguished career, winning a total of five Grand Slam titles and attaining the World No.1 position during her almost 20-year timeline on the WTA circuit.
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The former World No.1 was one of several stars present in the Royal box during Wimbledon this week. Sharapova spent time showing her son, Theodore, around the grounds and also interacted with her countrywomen behind the scenes.
In an interview with The Tennis Channel, Sharapova spoke about her memorable Wimbledon title run in 2004, and gave some thoughts on Gauff's meteoric rise to stardom.
"I think Coco has a voice and a platform that will transcend sports," said the 39-year old. "As we know now, tennis is not just sport: it's fashion, it's art, it's culture, it's having a platform, and I think she does that. She was the brilliant ability to bring all of those elements together. I was waiting for Coco to get there.
"So, I remember going to the first round of her match, which was tough at the US Open, and then I went home and thought about coming back and just wanting to see her win because I think she has such an incredible head on her shoulders."
"So, I remember going to the first round of her match, which was tough at the US Open, and then I went home and thought about coming back and just wanting to see her win because I think she has such an incredible head on her shoulders."
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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