Coco Gauff’s battle with great expectations

In the Wimbledon first round of 2019, Coco Gauff, bursting into tears, walked off Court No.1 announcing her breakthrough after beating Venus Williams in the first round.

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In the Wimbledon first round of 2023, Coco Gauff, unresponsive to the applause, walked off Court No.1 departing the earliest from a Grand Slam that created her star-in-the-making status after losing to Sofia Kenin in the first round.

The situation around the American this time stands in stark contrast to the backdrop from four years ago. Then, in being the youngest player ever to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon, the talented Gauff was on a nothing-to-lose fun ride. Now, in being the world’s seventh best-ranked women’s singles player and Wimbledon’s seventh seed, the established Gauff had a lot more to lose than merely a three-set match to her opponent.

Yet in this narrative transformation, it’s easy to forget that Gauff, in her 4-6, 6-4, 2-6 defeat to compatriot and former Australian Open champion Kenin in 2023, is 19. Or that Gauff, in her 6-4, 6-4 victory over compatriot and seven-time singles Slam champion Williams in 2019, was 15.

Prodigies in sport are rare. Rarer are those who can effortlessly ride the captivating yet often choppy waves of super early success. Meant to cruise on the fast lane, Gauff has instead taken steady and, at times, stuttering steps in her journey thus far.

If the 2019 Wimbledon, where the baby-faced Gauff went on an eye-catching run to the fourth round, was a splendid appetizer, the tennis world craved more of Cocomania. It came in infrequent doses, and not quite in the major title-winning spread that everyone—certainly, Gauff herself too—expected from the fine talent.

Gauff defeated defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round of the 2020 Australian Open, becoming the youngest to beat a top-five player since 1991, before losing the next round; incidentally to eventual champion Kenin.

She then became the youngest woman to make a Slam final since Maria Sharapova in 2004 at the French Open last year. Evidently overawed by the occasion, the 18-year-old was blown away 6-1, 6-3 by Iga Swiatek.

Major and consistent success, despite her three titles on the WTA tour spread intermittently and the surging elevation to the top 10 rankings, eluded Gauff.

Which, for a 19-year-old, is still understandable. For, not every young generational talent can do Carlos Alcaraz — the boy wonder turned major champion at 20 — things. Some, like Gauff, can take time in turning raw promise into refined potential. More so if dealing with perils of early fame and success acts as an intoxicating mix.

At her home Slam in 2019, the American teen broke down in tears after losing to Osaka in the third round, later stating that she felt heavily burdened carrying the pressure of having to win. A year later, in a candid essay for Behind the Racquet, Gauff, still 16, wrote: “Throughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn’t want. It added this pressure that I needed to do well fast.”

Professional tennis has stood witness to bright young stars fading away into oblivion after being unable to cope with the after-effects of great expectations. Jennifer Capriati slipped into depression after ticking off several “youngest-ever” boxes in her early pro career. More recently, Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion who has struggled with form and injuries since, said last month she wishes sometimes she’d “never won” her attention-grabbing Slam title at 18.

Much like the British teen who attracted a flurry of sponsorship deals post her New York magic, a big factor to Gauff’s mass and brand appeal is her not shying away from speaking her mind; the American has often addressed issues ranging from gun violence in the US to climate change.

Unlike Raducanu’s unheralded-to-champion fairytale, however, Gauff’s tale isn’t one of being an overnight sensation. Long before that memorable 2019 evening in London, big things were expected from the junior world No. 1 French Open girls’ winner who caught the eye of Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of her idol Serena Williams.

Even though signs of it have occasionally surfaced, the much-anticipated Cocomania is yet to fully leave its mark. The latest setback, a crushing low in the backdrop of a surreal high on the same court of Wimbledon four years ago, makes her want to go back to the drawing back and go from scratch again.

“Right now, I’m very frustrated and disappointed,” Gauff said after her defeat to Kenin, the 24-year-old qualifier who too has had to grapple with drastic dips after her surprise 2020 triumph in Melbourne. “She had nothing to lose.”

A lot like the 15-year-old Gauff at the 2019 Wimbledon.