"Tennis is cool, so is Coco Gauff" - Serena Williams' ex-coach hails American for breaking viewership records with US Open triumph

Rennae Stubbs, Serena Williams' former coach, has commended Coco Gauff for achieving record-breaking viewership with her 2023 US Open triumph.

Rennae Stubbs secured four Grand Slam doubles titles and two mixed-doubles titles throughout her career. Notably, she reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles and also represented Australia at the Olympics. Currently, she hosts "The Power Hour" on Amazon Prime Video Sports Talk.

The Australian took to Twitter on Wednesday to retweet a post from ESPN, celebrating the coolness of tennis and Coco Gauff. In the tweet, ESPN provided viewership statistics, noting that 3.4 million viewers tuned in to ESPN to watch the 2023 US Open Women's Championship. This marked a remarkable 92% increase compared to the previous year, establishing it as the most-watched Major Women's Championship in history.

In the US Open final, Coco Gauff faced off against the 25-year-old Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. While Gauff lost the opening set 3-6, she rebounded impressively to claim the second set 6-3. She ultimately secured the match with a dominant 6-2 scoreline in the final set.

Coco Gauff discusses how her image has evolved in the public eye following Serena Williams' retirement

APTOPIX US Open Tennis

Ahead of the US Open, Coco Gauff acknowledged the pressure of being a role model for people of color in her post-match press conference after winning the Cincinnati Open in August. She said she respects Serena Williams as the true "G.O.A.T." and is uncertain if she can match her achievements, but it's a dream she aspires to fulfill.

"It's something that I don't take lightly. I think sometimes I guess it increases the pressure because I know that this community of people, the community of people of color, black people, look up to me a lot. Especially with Serena retiring, people consider me the next leader or something of tennis. I don't put myself in that box because Serena is the G.O.A.T. for a reason. It's 'greatest of all time'. That's what the word means. I'm part of all time, so I don't know if I'll be able to go as far as she did. That's the dream," she said.

Coco Gauff's historic win over Sabalenka made her the first American to secure a US Open victory since Sloane Stephens in 2017 when Stephens beat Madison Keys in the final. Gauff's remarkable triumph also cemented her legacy as the third American teenager to claim the US Open title, following in the footsteps of Tracy Austin in 1979 and Serena Williams in 1999.