(CNN)One should never meet one’s idols, as the saying goes. But what if destiny not only brings you together, but also puts you in direct competition on one of the greatest sports stages in the world?
Such was the fate of tennis sensation Cori “Coco” Gauff in 2019 as she became the youngest-ever qualifier to face the legendary Venus Williams at Wimbledon.
“All I remember is going into the square with my head down and playing music because I didn’t want to look at the crowd,” Gauff told CNN’s Becky Anderson in Dubai.
“It was such a long walk from the dressing room. It was about 15 minutes,” she recalls. “Then they all have walls of champions, and obviously I’ve seen Venus there so many times. I was like, ‘Oh my god, she’s lifted that trophy so many times, her.'”
What happened next was the stuff of the imagination as the teen swept aside her experienced rival in straight sentences. Stone-faced in almost disbelief, Gauff slowly walked up to a beaming Williams, who heartily congratulated her over the net as the crowd erupted in wild applause.
Elegant dominance
Almost three years later, Gauff still takes inspiration from Venus and her sister Serena.
“I’m inspired by both,” she says. “And I would say, I don’t know, I think not only their games but how they behave off the pitch is something I look up to.”
Gauff also recognizes the importance of having two black role models in a sport that has traditionally lacked diversity. “For me, there aren’t many representations of people who look like me in this sport. For me as a young girl, just seeing them dominate and do it so elegantly inspired me.”
Venus has also become something of a Coco Gauff fan. “I have to have conversations with them, like Venus, who I have to play doubles with [her]. That was just something I never would have thought of. And she always cheers me on.
“I remember posting Instagram stories saying people would ask her questions like, ‘Who is she supporting?’ and she’d say, ‘Serena,’ and then she’ll say, me too, and I thought that was really cool because I never thought that was going to happen.
“I mean, as a kid I never thought I’d play either of them, let alone play doubles with either of them!”
role model
Although she won’t turn 18 until March, Gauff is already making her own way as a role model for others. She spoke out during the protests following the killing of George Floyd and believes in using her position to inspire change.
“For me, I just feel like it’s not that much of a responsibility, I feel like that’s just me, and that’s like my identity,” she told Anderson.
“I want to stand up for people who look like me and feel like they don’t have a voice. And I’m fortunate that some people in the world care what I have to say. So I’m trying to make sure that I’m saying it and saying it in the correct way or in a way that people will understand.”
She says she makes sure to set an example for her two younger brothers. “I would say I’m just trying to stick to what I want my brothers to do. [and be] an example to my brothers.”
“Your mindset can change everything in your life”
The Atlanta-born star also draws her own inspiration from the local area. Her grandmother survived cancer, and Gauff says watching that struggle and the positive attitude her grandmother had towards it was a learning experience.
“I think your mind kind of controls everything. Your mind is in control, you know how your body feels and what your mood is like,” she explains.
“One of the things I learned as a kid was that my grandmother had lung cancer when I was younger and now she’s cancer-free, but I just remember she was never too negative about it and was always positive.”
This attitude left a lasting impression on the young woman and her views on mental health. “I remembered my grandmother telling me the only reason she thinks she made it – because she was stage four and the odds didn’t look good – was because she was just so mentally in a positive every day and happy light would wake up .
“You know, as a kid I didn’t really understand what was going on. But I remember never seeing her sad or upset or saying, ‘Why me?’ Instead she said, ‘Why not me?’ So I think for me, now at this age, it showed me that the way you think can change everything in your life. So if you’re not good mentally, you know, it could be just as painful.
Restriction on social media
A new pressure young sports stars are born into has taken the social media spotlight, and Gauff says she’s learned not to spend too much time online.
“I’m really rarely on Twitter or Instagram. I’m just there to like and comment on my friends’ posts and then unsubscribe,” she says. “I would say TikTok is the one thing I’m most into, just because I don’t watch a lot of tennis doesn’t mean I see a lot about myself on the app that I like.”
It’s important to resist the temptation to please everyone on social media, says Gauff. “I feel like a lot of people have a lot of nice things to say, I would definitely say the positives outweigh the bad. But I think, you know, I feel like as a human you want to look at what people are saying to you and saying about you.
“As humans, we have it in our heads to please everyone, so you want to know what people think bad about you so you can fix it. But some things are simple, you just can’t fix it. And that’s how I just kind of keep you away.”
It’s a single-minded philosophy that seems to be spreading to other areas of her life as well. Gauff firmly believes in going his own way for his own reasons.
“If you’re not doing it for yourself, then don’t waste your time doing it,” she says. “Because you need to remember that this is going to be your life and you don’t want to spend the only life you have being unhappy.”
This means that every moment counts, she says. “I think every day counts, no matter if it’s a small thing you do every day, it’s a chance to improve. The sun rises and sets every day and you want to make sure you make the most of the time in between.”
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