"I don't think anything I’ll do will compare to what Serena Williams did" - Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff recently showered praise on Serena Williams and stated that she will never be able to match her compatriot's achievements.

Williams is a 23-time Major winner and is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She was ranked World No. 1 for 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks.

The 42-year-old, who retired from the WTA tour in 2022, has long been an inspiration to younger players, especially for African American women in the USA, with Gauff being one of them.

In a recent interview, Gauff stated that while she hopes to become one of the best players of all time, she acknowledged that she will never be able to match Williams' achievements.

“I think for me greatness is… I think multiple people can be great. Obviously, there's only going to be one greatest of all time and I just feel like no matter what I do, I don't think anything I’ll do will compare to what Serena [Williams] did for the sport and the game and with the amount of times she won,” she told The National News.

Coco Gauff said that she hopes to give it her all in her quest to be remembered as one of the best players to have graced the sport.

“But I definitely would like to be, when I retire, people, when they think of the best players, I'd like to be in that conversation. So hopefully I can do better and continue to do better,” the 19-year-old stated.

She added that she did not want to have any regrets at the end of her career.

“It's a big goal. It's a lot to try to do. But again, I feel like if I put a ceiling on something, then I'll stop at that ceiling or even worse, stop under it. So I just want to make things as limitless as possible. And at the end, when I put my racquets up, I can say I did everything I could to do all the things I wanted to,” she added.

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After Doha disappointment, Coco Gauff eyes improvements in Dubai

Coco Gauff in action at the Qatar Open.

At the recently concluded Qatar Open in Doha, Coco Gauff suffered a shock opening-round defeat, losing in straight sets to Katerina Siniakova.

After losing the first set 6-2, Gauff fought back in the following set and took a 4-0 lead. Siniakova, however, rallied to win six consecutive games to clinch the second set and end the American's campaign.

Speaking ahead of her Dubai Tennis Championships participation, Gauff stated that her early exit in Doha was justified as she did not play well there.

"In Doha, I lost in the first match because I didn't play very well, maybe if I had played better and still lost, it would be different. It is in these moments that we must know how to maintain a sense of proportion," she told reporters.

The American hoped that her performance would be back to her standards in Dubai.

"I hope to have a better week here [in Dubai]. I'm not too upset about my last loss either, it was just a bad day at work, I'm not going to let that determine how things go for me this week," she added.

Coco Gauff will open her Dubai Tennis Championships campaign against Italian lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Tuesday, February 20.