"I hope Coco Gauff wins every match" - Venus Williams sends a message of love to youngster after her 'explosion' on global stage

Venus Williams shared words of love for Coco Gauff while discussing the 'inspire' section of her newly launched book Strive on the Tamron Hall Show. The words of appreciation came after an image of a young Coco Gauff cheering the American legend on during the 2012 US Open was put up on the screen.

Gauff has expressed her love for the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, many times in the past. However, earlier this year, an image of a young Gauff cheering Venus during her match against Bethanie Mattek-Sands was posted by a fan online.

This sent the 2023 US Open champion into a frenzy who was delighted with the image and thanked the fan who found the image profusely. She also tweeted the image on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote,

“If this isn't proof that your dreams are closer than you think then idk what is.”

While promoting her newly launched book Strive: 8 Steps to Find Your Awesome, on the Tamron Hall Show, Venus Williams was shown Gauff's tweet and asked about her thoughts on it.

The 44-year-old said she was delighted to see Coco Gauff burst onto the scene and wished for the young star's win every time she played. A photo of the two Americans competing as partners at the 2021 French Open was also shown on the screen.

"I mean it's so exciting to see her just like… explode. She is fantastic, and of course, I hope she wins every match," Venus Williams said.

Williams then talked about how important it was for a person to dream and how one needed to navigate through the ups and downs to reach their goals.

"Exactly. And you have to dream. Doesn't mean that there won't be turns all the way of the dream or someday there's gonna be ups and downs but as long as you have your north star…And there's times when you have to figure out how to do it another way. But all that is a part of… you have to dream big."

---

A 15-year-old Coco Guaff defeated Venus Williams at Wimbledon 2019 1R

Venus Williams and Coco Gauff shake hands after their Wimbledon matchup (Source: Getty)

The tennis world was left stunned when 15-year-old Coco Gauff defeated five-time Wimbledon champion and her idol Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in just an hour and 19 minutes during the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

During the post-match press conference, Gauff expressed gratitude to Wimbledon for giving her an opportunity to compete against her idol. She said (via WTA Tour):

“I'm super shocked, but I'm just super blessed that Wimbledon decided to give me the wild card. I mean, I never expected this to happen."

The American then hailed the elder Williams sister and also mentioned how she had been supportive from the get-go.

“Obviously I literally got my dream draw, so I'm just super happy I was able to pull it out today. She played amazing, was just super nice. She's always been nice the couple times I met her.”

Venus Williams has kept her participation to a minimum in 2024 as she returned to the tour after recovering from a knee injury she suffered at Wimbledon last year. The American only participated in the Sunshine Double tournaments but suffered opening-round exits in both events. At the Indian Wells, she lost Nao Hibino and in Miami, she lost Diana Shnaider, with both losses coming in straight sets.

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff is gearing up to compete at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.