"She's definitely one of the first names people think of": Coco Gauff lauds 'timeless' Chris Evert for her impact on tennis

While Coco Gauff currently holds the candle for women's tennis in the USA, Chris Evert in the past did so and ahead of her clash with Caroline Garcia later this evening, the US Open champion was quizzed on the impact of the 18-time Grand Slam champion.

Gauff said that of course while not growing up watching her, she can speak for off court and said that she texts her with messages of support and the 20-year-old dubbed her 'timeless'. She shared that she tried to model her backhand both off Evert and Novak Djokovic. Also another legend she gets messages off is Roger Federer with Gauff previously being managed by Tony Godsick who is the Swiss ace's longtime agent.

“I'll be honest. I didn't grow up watching a lot of her tapes just because she was a couple generations past me. But I've gotten to know her off the court a little bit more. She's a very, very kind person. She texts me sometimes. I always try to text her, especially with the recent news of her illness and everything," said Gauff.

"As far as like her impact on tennis, she's definitely one of the first names people think of. Just timeless. I always get videos of her on court style looks on my page. I feel like I know her more for that. I think once I turned pro is when I watched a little bit more of her old tapes. It's definitely a different game. I wouldn't say I modeled my backhand after hers. Well, my team tried, then I tried to model it after Novak Djokovic a lot. That's where that inspiration comes from. Yeah, she's definitely obviously very knowledgeable of the game, a very kind person.”

“A lot of her messages are just advice on some matches or just, ‘Good job, How are you doing,’ regular messages. I do get some messages from past players, not as many as people would think. I would think the only person honestly, other than Chrissie, is Mary Joe, who I've grown up with a lot with Tony Godsick, being the agency I grew up with. Once a blue moon Roger (Federer) will send me a message. That's always pretty cool when he does.I can't think of any on the top of my head other than those two right now. But there’s more for sure.”