Gauff: "She told me to go on the court to win" — the advice that helped her beat Venus Williams at 15 at Wimbledon

Before stepping onto the court against Venus Williams at Wimbledon, Coco Gauff was just a teenager full of doubts. But a simple piece of advice made the difference.

© AFP

Jules Hypolite

le 04/12/2025 à 18h04

2 min to read

Gauff Williams

In 2019, Coco Gauff made her breakthrough on the WTA tour by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon, at just 15 years old.

A precociousness that had marked the tennis world, especially as the young American player had eliminated Venus Williams, an icon of the women's circuit, in the first round 6-4, 6-4.

"Mary Joe Fernandez told me to go on the court to win"

In an interview with Forbes, the current world No. 3 looked back on that symbolic victory against the elder of the Williams sisters:

"I remember when the draw came out, my dad said: 'Oh, you got Venus.' And internally, I thought: 'That's great.' Obviously, you hope to face someone with a much lower ranking, and not Venus in the first match, that's clearly what I hoped for.

But I told myself I had nothing to lose on the court. Just before the match, I had a conversation with Mary Joe Fernandez (three-time Grand Slam finalist). She told me: 'Don't go on the court to see how many games you can take, go out there to win.'

That conversation completely changed my approach to that match, because initially, I was clearly going out there to try to take a few games and avoid getting crushed."

"I didn't want to see her name on the scoreboard"

"I was confident, but I told myself I didn't know if I could do it, especially against Venus at Wimbledon. She is the queen of that surface. At the time, I knew grass wasn't my best surface.

I also remember not wanting to look at the scoreboard because I didn't want to see Venus Williams' name. I didn't want to look at her. So I just tried to treat the match as if I was playing the qualifying matches I had played the week before."