Gauff: I’m here to win Wimbledon

Qualifier Cori Gauff has already won a junior Grand Slam title

Cori Gauff says her goal is to win Wimbledon on her Grand Slam debut, after the 15-year-old qualifier defeated five-time champion Venus Williams.

The world No 313 produced a brilliant performance to beat one of her idols in front of a packed Court One crowd, who willed her on to a memorable victory.

Gauff, the youngest ever player to qualify for Wimbledon since the Open Era began in 1968, also repeated her “ultimate goal” is to become the greatest player ever.

Asked how far she believed she could go at the tournament, Gauff said: “My goal is to win it.”

Gauff impressed on one of the biggest stages in tennis

Gauff, who goes by the nickname ‘Coco’, became the youngest tennis player to win a match at Wimbledon since 1991 – when Jennifer Capriati won at the All England Club at 14.

“I said this before: I want to be the greatest. My dad told me that I could do this when I was eight. Obviously you never believe it,” she said.

I said this before: I want to be the greatest.

Cori Gauff

“I’m still, like, not 100% confident. But, like, you have to just say things. You never know what happens.

“If I went into this match saying, Let’s see how many games I can get against her, then I most definitely would not have won. My goal was to play my best. My dream was to win. That’s what happened.

“I think people just kind of limit themselves too much. Once you actually get your goal, then it’s like what do you do now. I like to shoot really high. So that way I always have many goals along the road, but that way you have the ultimate goal.”

Venus Williams congratulates Gauff on her memorable victory

Gauff, who won the French Open junior title in 2018 aged 14, will face 2017 semi-finalist Magdalena Rybarikova, now ranked world No 139, in the second round on Wednesday.

Despite having only got into qualifying through a wildcard, Gauff insists she fully believed she would defeat Williams, even when her opponent broke back in the second set, only to regain the break advantage immediately before eventually converting her fourth match point.

“I wouldn’t say I didn’t expect to win the match. I knew that I was going to go out there and play the way I play. I wasn’t surprised that I won,” Gauff added.

Gauff impressed on one of the biggest stages in tennis

“I mean, I was just overwhelmed at the end. Never played on a court that big, the crowd was really wild. I was just surprised that people were cheering me on.

“Coming into the match, Venus was the favourite. Actually when I got on the court, people were literally like, one person would say, Let’s go, Cori.

“The other one would say, Let’s go, Venus. They were having a cheering war. I was surprised how many people came out to support me.”

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