How Coco Gauff compares to Serena Williams at the same age

Coco Gauff will face Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's US Open final. Photo: Getty Images/Sarah Steer

On Thursday, 19-year-old Coco Gauff became the youngest woman to reach the US Open final since Serena Williams 22 years ago. In celebration, she donned a neon yellow outfit, even one that matched the canary-colored dress Williams wore in 2001.

As the biggest moment of Gauff's career approaches on Saturday, when she faces Aryna Sabalenka in the final, the parallels between her and Williams are becoming increasingly relevant.

Since Gauff achieved worldwide fame at the Na Wimbledon at the age of 15, she considers the Williams sisters to be her greatest influences. This, and her prodigious talent, means that her career to date is often measured by how it matches their progress at similar points in their careers.

«I hope to do half of what she's done, but I'm not going to compare myself to her,» Gauff said of Williams on ESPN this week. “She's someone I look up to. To be on the same stat line as her means a lot to me. She is my idol. The only regret I will have for the rest of my life is that I won't be able to play her. I'm still happy to just be a product of her legacy.»

Now that Gauff has the opportunity to emulate Williams by winning her first major title in a US Open final, it's worth seeing how similar their teenage paths are.

Williams had already won her first major at the age of 17 at the 1999 US Open. She and her sister Venus were already rewriting the rules of the game, playing powerful tennis with strong baseline serves, challenging the existing style of women's tennis.

Serena Williams won her first major title as a teenager. Photo: Getty Images/Jamie Squire

Gauff's influence has yet to impact tennis in the same way. But her progress on tour has been steady. Her win-loss record of 161–78 currently matches Williams' mark of 151–39 after the 2001 US Open, and they both reached number four in the world by age 19. The main difference is that Williams has already won 10 titles, including the main one, to Gauff's five.

Verdict: WilliamsForehand

Will Gauff's forehand crack under pressure? This is the question underlying the entire project. This is definitely her Achilles' heel, the result of an extreme «Western» grip that keeps her strings pointed towards the floor until the last moment. On a bad day, a shooter makes more mistakes than a GPT chat. But in Thursday's US Open semifinal against Carolina Muchova, Gauff trusted herself more than ever before.

Gauff's forehand could be a weakness under pressure. Photo: Getty Images/Kena Betancur

Even though she made 20 unforced errors on that side, she also pushed Muchova with a series of powerfully swinging diving forehands. What about Williams? Her forehand was the weaker of the two wings, but everything is relative. Her technique remained reliable and reliable, except in the most alarming moments. The reliability of her swing means you'll be hitting Williams with a forehand every time.

Verdict: WilliamsServe

Gauff has worked hard to make her comeback more compact, and her efforts have paid off: the WTA website claims she is the sixth-best server on tour this season. But Williams' serve? It was kinetic poetry. This may be the purest and most perfect performance the game has ever seen, thanks to her father's eccentric yet inspired coaching technique. He gave her a bunch of old broken rackets and asked her to throw them over the fence. Williams beats every female player in history in this match, as well as many men.

Verdict: WilliamsBackhand

The two-handed shot is the most advantageous shot for most WTA players, and these two are no exception. Gauff's backhand has it all: feel, power and variety of trajectory. She can use it to absorb tempo or generate energy; to create sharp angles or put the ball into play.

Williams' forehand was a little more unusual than Gauff's. Photo: Getty Images/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez

Williams was a little less orthodox in her technique: She would hit the shot with her wrists bent and then play something like a backhand. She rarely held back on that wing, hitting winners down the line and down the line with equal ease. There should be a tie in this category as both sides score full points.

Verdict: Tie on Market Opportunity

Gauff's remarkable breakthrough aged just 15 at Wimbledon, where she defeated five-time champion Venus Williams, made her a household name overnight. This has continued to sustain her over the past four years, as has her ability to be a leading voice on tour. She was not afraid to speak her mind on important issues, including the Black Lives Matter movement, gun violence and women's equality issues, and was even invited to be a keynote speaker at the WTA's 50th anniversary celebration of equal pay in New York before US Open. .

Coco Gauff says she believes in climate change & You can’t be angry at the protesters:

“I believe in climate change. I don't know exactly what they were protesting… I 100% believe there are things we could do better. Would I prefer this not to happen in my match? 100%. This is what it is… pic.twitter.com/86CtDfmDfH

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 8, 2023

She counts brands such as New Balance, UPS, Microsoft and Barilla as sponsors, and her fans include Obama, Justin Bieber and NBA star Jimmy Butler. She even dipped her toe into acting and earlier this year she appeared in a cameo role in the television series All American: Homecoming.

Williams' path was different early on in that she was less outspoken about her political views. But her and sister Venus's performance, their position as black women excelling in a sport in which predominantly white middle-class people excel, and their mind-blowing journey from the practice courts of Compton to the pinnacle of tennis made them extremely marketable from a young age — probably even more so than Gauff.

Verdict: Williams' potential

Gauff has reached two major finals by age 19 and has a better record than Williams at her age. She is the third youngest woman to do so, after Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova. But unlike Williams, she lost her first final at the French Open in 2022, and at this point she still needs a major title to justify the huge hype surrounding her.

She has huge potential, but she is trying to win Williams' 23 Grand Slam titles, a task few can even dream of. The level of dominance Williams has enjoyed for most of her career (emerging from her sister's shadow) and her longevity are unlikely to be matched.

Verdict: Williams