Gauff, 16, lost learner’s permit, found voice
NEW YORK — Listen to Coco Gauff speak about tennis, and she hardly sounds like a 16-year-old. She sounds like a veteran of the sport.
Listen to Gauff speak about the issues of the day, and she doesn’t sound like an uninformed kid. She sounds like an adult, filled with knowledge and insight.
Listen to her speak about not being able to practice driving because she misplaced her learner’s permit — and, finally, Gauff sounds her age.
“I still need to work on my parking,” Gauff acknowledges. “It’s so bad.”
It’s hard to find time working on that when there’s tennis to be played, and Gauff will be garnering plenty of attention again at the U.S. Open, which starts this morning.
A year ago, using a terrific first serve and ability to go from defense to offense, Gauff beat Venus Williams along the way to the Wimbledon round of 16 as the youngest qualifier in tournament history. Then she
At a glance
made it to the round of 32 at Flushing Meadows before losing to 2018 champion Naomi Osaka in a match that ended in tears for the teen and a hug from the winner.
After collecting a singles trophy in Linz, Austria, in October — becoming the youngest WTA title winner since 2004 — Gauff began the 2020 Grand Slam season by defeating Williams again and winning a rematch against Osaka at the Australian Open en route to the fourth round there.
Gauff has a tough assignment in her first-round match at the U.S. Open, facing 31st-seeded Anastasija Sevastova, a 30-year-old from Latvia who was a semifinalist in New York two years ago.
“At her age, to have the awareness to see what’s going on in the real world, then the guts to actually speak out about it on social issues, is just phenomenal at this age. She has an amazing platform; she knows that. I