Sometimes we realise that a moment was historic, long after it has happened. Not the one I am going to mention, though.
What a day 🤩😴@Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/8O3vjMT9oi
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) July 1, 2019
15-year-old Cori Gauff defeated and knocked out her idol Venus Williams (6-4,6-4) from Wimbledon in one of the biggest upsets of the sport and her expressions after the win was all of us.
Cori, who is still in school, is the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon and the ranking difference between her and Venus is 269 spots. As for age, 24 years. Fun fact: She wasn’t even born by the time Venus had 4 Grand Slams in her kitty.
Made for the big stage ✨@CocoGauff becomes the youngest player since 1991 to win in the first round of the ladies’ singles, beating Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/hfgcQGdZtq
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2019
As she walked out of the court having created history, Cory said it was the first time she had the guts to tell Venus that she idolises her:
This is the first time I ever cried after winning a match… after the match I told her just thank you for everything she did. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. I was just telling her that she is so inspiring and that I always wanted to tell her that. Even though I met her before, I guess I had the guts to (tell her today).
“She [Venus Williams] said congratulations.”
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2019
“I told her thank you for everything that you did. I wouldn’t be here without you. I always wanted to tell her that.”
– @CocoGauff #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/lGUYiGnq3Q
The way she played, you couldn’t guess, but Cory didn’t even know the dimensions of the court – something she admitted post match.
I definitely had to tell myself to stay calm, I have never played on a court so big, but I had to remind myself that the lines on the court are the same size, everything around it might be bigger, but the lines are the same and after every point I was just telling myself to stay calm.
“No matter who I play against, I want to win.”
— ABC News (@ABC) July 2, 2019
After defeating her idol Venus Williams at Wimbledon, 15-year-old Cori Gauff told reporters, “I wasn’t really thinking about who I was facing on the other side of the net.” https://t.co/Kp0qHSrPgE pic.twitter.com/bGQdzdZyTN
When she qualified for Wimbledon, Cory’s only dream was to play against Venus or Serena. Well, she defeated one of them in an outstanding fashion so we are guessing no sleep for her tonight.
