Following 19-year old Coco Gauff's maiden Grand Slam title run at the 2023 US Open, retired tennis star Maria Sharapova gave some insight into winning a Grand Slam title at a young age, a feat achieved by the Russian at the age of 17.
Gauff became just the 10th teenager in history to win the women’s singles Major at Flushing Meadows when she defeated Aryna Sabalenka. The victory saw her join the likes of Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu, who similarly achieved the feat before turning 20.
Sharapova believes Gauff followed the right path to her first Major title
In a recent interview with former German player Andrea Petkovic, Sharapova was asked how she handled winning a Grand Slam at such a young age.
"You won your first Grand Slam title when you were very young, even younger than Coco – 17 – and you repeated it – 2006 US Open champion. I was wondering, what is awaiting Coco now? You’ve been in this position. Do you think she can handle it?” asked Petkovic on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
“We’ve seen other past champions that have crumbled under pressure. Can you tell, with your experience, this one’s going to make it, and this one will struggle?"
Sharapova responded by stating Gauff benefitted from the delay in winning her first Major, as it gave her time to acclimatize to the spotlight.
"Ya. I think her journey has been interesting," replied the Russian. "Because from the age of 16 she’s been the prospect and the target and everyone believed that she would get there.
“And it’s, perhaps I think from everyone’s expectations, it’s taken a little bit longer. But I think for her that may be helpful. Because it took a few years to figure it out as opposed to coming out on top from the very beginning and then just being so surprised by everything that comes your way.”
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.