Gauff is the real deal, says Judy Murray

American’s impressive Centre Court debut proved she can be a real asset to tennis for years

How impressive was Coco Gauff last week? Wow. When she played Venus Williams on the opening day of Wimbledon, it would have been understandable for such a young player to fold in the face of the occasion. She was scheduled on No1 Court in the world’s biggest tennis tournament, against one of the sport’s biggest stars, and she did not even blink.

Watching that match on television, I could see the close-ups of her facial expressions. What stood out was her total focus and belief. You could see it in her eyes. She reminded me of a young Rafa Nadal, full of fight and desire.

The same qualities were on display in the third round. Gauff was in an apparently hopeless position against Polona Hercog: a set and 5-2 down, facing match point against her. There is no on-court coaching at the slams, so she was on her own. But she found a way to get herself out of trouble.

When you consider that she turned 15 only in March, and was playing on Centre Court for the

first time, Coco showed incredible composure. And it was so good to see her work out the changes of tactics for herself. All her opponents at this level are unfamiliar to her, so to counter Hercog’s slice-heavy game with slices of her own – even though she admitted the slice is a fairly new shot for her – was very impressive.

Simply by virtue of her age, Gauff will be great for the game. The extraordinary viewing figures she generated last week – 5.2million on the BBC – showed that her story broke out of the tennis bubble and into the mainstream. Gauff is a teen and she talks the same language as today’s schoolkids. So when she tells interviewers about streaming Jaden Smith’s new album or how she hopes her mother will become

‘Coco reminded me of a young Rafa Nadal, full of fight and desire. I saw the belief in her eyes’

a meme, the teen world can relate. She is really cool, and if she helps to make tennis cool as well, that is the best asset any sport can have.

Outstanding teenagers are often surrounded by big teams of adults. It is easy to end up with a lot of people around you, trying to justify their existence and overloading you with information rather than encouraging you to work things out for yourself.

I am not in favour of on-court coaching – or coaching from the stands, which seems to be the next obsession among some tennis administrators – because everyone should ultimately be their own coach and their own boss. It is about life skills as much as anything: players need to be able to solve their own problems.

The most complete players are usually great competitors who have an incredible understanding of how to play the game. They have tactical nous as well as quick eyes, quick hands and quick feet, and they can adapt to dig out a plan B or C if plan A is not working. I agree with Kim Clijsters, who said there is nothing better than seeing players figure things out on the court to turn matches around.

The other stories that caught the public imagination last week included Nick Kyrgios’s fascinating match against Nadal. I enjoy watching Kyrgios because he has genius in his game – incredible vision and hand skills to die for, which allow him to make quick changes of pace, spin, depth, direction and height. He is impossible to read and is capable of causing an upset on any given day. I cannot see him winning a slam any time soon, because he does not have the mental consistency to come through seven matches across 13 days. You do not just need the physicality; you need focus too.

The players who get to the top bring a good attitude every single day, whether they are training, competing or dealing with sponsors, the media and fans.

One of the things I wonder about, when I look at the current generation, is how much their focus is affected by a dependence on screens. It worries me on a social as well as a physical level. Kids are sitting down so much and the only muscles they exercise are in their thumbs. There is also way less face-to-face interaction because we converse via text.

When it comes to competition, it is a very different experience playing against a computer on a screen. You win or lose in private, and it doesn’t hurt much if you are beaten: you just swipe and start again. So if you want to develop thinking athletes you must create real-life situations and challenges.

It is never easy to cope with expectation and pressure when you first get to the top – the feeling of being the hunted rather than the hunter requires a different mindset. Young women who have topped the rankings or won slams in recent times have struggled to maintain or repeat those successes.

This week, everyone has been asking whether Gauff can reach the top of the tennis tree and dominate the sport the way the Williams sisters have.

I would not bet against it.