Gauff ousts Venus, and it’s not such a shock

Coco Gauff was a qualifier and Grand Slam rookie when she played Venus Williams for the first time.

That was at Wimbledon in July, and Gauff’s first-round, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the five-time Wimbledon champion sent shock waves through the All England Club and beyond, far beyond.

Much has changed in six months. Gauff is still 15 years old, still a fighter on the court and still a charmer in the interview room.

But with a ranking of 67 and a tour singles title in her possession, Gauff no longer has to bother with the qualifying tournament at Grand Slam events. She no longer needs a wild card to get into a major, like the one she received into last year’s U.S. Open.

In a flood-lit hurry, she has become part of the tennis landscape, and it was striking to watch her first-round rematch with Williams on Monday at the Australian Open and realize as the crowd chanted “Coco” that it might now be a bigger surprise if Gauff lost than if she won.

“We almost had the impression that it was Coco who was the favorite,” said JeanChristophe Faurel, one of her coaches.

Gauff, to her credit, found a way to shrug off her new status and navigate the shoals, winning this duel 7-6 (5), 6-3 by showing plenty of power and finesse when it mattered most against Williams, who, at 39, is closer to triple Gauff’s age than double and had not played an official match since October.

“I definitely was more confident this time,” Gauff said. “I think I was used to playing on big courts, so I guess the size of the crowd didn’t startle me as much as last time.”

The Wimbledon match was played on No. 1 Court, the second-biggest arena at the All England Club with a capacity of about 11,000. The rematch Monday was in Margaret Court Arena, the third-biggest show court at Melbourne Park, with a capacity of 7,500.

Nearly every seat was full as Gauff made her Australian Open debut. Her only previous match here was a first-round loss in the junior event in 2018. A year ago, she was ranked No. 684 and preparing for satellite events in the United States.

But she is now one of the main first-week attractions in Melbourne.

“My mission is to be the greatest,” she said. “That’s my goal, to win as many Grand Slams as possible. But for today, my mission was to win. I didn’t want to let the nerves come to me.”

Mission accomplished, even if the nerves were clearly there when she failed to convert her first three set points in the opening set and double faulted to lose her serve at 5-4.

But again, to her credit, she did not allow Williams to do what she has been doing for more than 20 years: Dictate the terms of a rally with her huge groundstrokes and aggressive mind-set.

Instead, Gauff dug through her tennis toolbox, which is already precociously complete, and came up with bold strokes and abrupt changes of pace, including drop shots and forays to the net.

It was not always clean, not always effective, but the intent to pose an all-court threat was evident, which should pay dividends down the track.

“You have to learn to go forward to the net,” said Corey Gauff, her father and head coach. “The game is changing. If you want to have a long career, you can’t be out there playing 30 balls per point.”