By Piper Rutherford | Staff Writer
Nineteen-year-old Coco Gauff won the U.S. Women’s Open Championship at Arthur Ashe Stadium this past Saturday. She not only defeated the world’s No. 1 ranked female player, Aryna Sabalenka, in a swift three-set match but also sent a message to fans that she no longer wants to be compared to senior legends of the game like Serena Williams. Nor should she be — given that she is only at the start of her unquestionably long and successful career, taking home a whopping $3 million from this tournament’s victory alone.
In a short amount of time, Gauff has shown the world just how far she has come since first appearing on Wimbledon’s grass courts in 2019 at the ripe age of 15. The now-college-age player is no stranger to the financial benefits of fame or the attention from the public eye that comes with it. She has brand deals with New Balance, Barilla and Head and Beats by Dre, totaling $15 million in endorsements, according to Forbes.
This past weekend, the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open champion received numerous congratulations from celebrities, including the Obamas, Billie Jean King, Mike Tyson and Magic Johnson. She added one more trophy to her hardware collection of five WTA Tour singles titles and eight doubles titles.
With Gauff’s monetary and athletic success, many sports fans like to compare the teenager’s rise to stardom to that of Serena Williams. Popularly referred to as the “GOAT” of women’s tennis, that 41-year-old mom of two has a reputation that long precedes her.
After winning the U.S. Women’s Open at the age of 17, Williams went on to claim 23 Grand Slam singles titles over the span of two decades. This impressive resume has landed her a spot among other distinguished tennis stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who have transformed the underappreciated sport.
Nonetheless, this does not mean that Gauff should be labeled “the next Serena” solely because fans want a young African American female tennis player to fill in Williams’ large shoes following her retirement last year. In reality, there is no comparison between the two players, given the current climate of women’s tennis as opposed to what it was in September 1999 when Williams made her first appearance in New York.
First, consider the fact that the competition in women’s tennis has greatly improved over the years. According to ESPN’s Women’s Tennis WTA 2023 Rankings, Gauff’s opponents — such as Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur, Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula — are much more competitive than the majority of Williams’ opponents ever were, based on win-loss records, tournament performance, tournament size and head-to-head records.
Furthermore, professional female tennis players are now competing for record-high prize winnings. Gauff took home $3 million this past tournament, in comparison to the half a million Williams took home at Wimbledon in 1999, according to the BBC.
This suggests that the female players in the Top 100, as previously listed, are now more financially comfortable paying for better coaches and full-time trainers. They can also sign up for a greater number of tournaments throughout the year, so they can compete against one another more frequently.
All of this is not to say that Williams’ accomplishments in the sport are commonplace, nor does it take away from the applause she deserves for breaking down the racial and economic doors of tennis that were historically only open to privileged white players. In doing so, she has encouraged girls, like Gauff, to follow their dreams of becoming professional tennis players.
Nevertheless, this does not grant commentators and critics in the media permission to compare the rookie with the legacy of a legend, since it is unfair to Gauff and comes prematurely in her career.
As for Gauff’s opinion on the matter, when asked in an MSNBC interview about Williams’ impact on her career, Gauff did admit that she always aspired to be as good as Williams growing up. She said she is proud to continue her mission of being a model for young African American girls who are interested in picking up a tennis racket themselves.
In the meantime, Gauff does not wish to be compared to her childhood idol, especially since the two have never met on opposing sides of the net in a real match. Perhaps this will silence the debate over who will truly be remembered as the greatest once and for all.
