Coco time while Novac hails guru
SHE had just caused the first major shock of this year’s Wimbledon and it was almost too much for Coco Gauff to believe. The 15-year-old schoolgirl, the youngest player to qualify for the event in the Open era, had knocked out her former idol, fivetime champion Venus Williams. In one of the greatest upsets in the tournament’s history, Coco beat her opponent – at 39 the oldest woman in the draw – in straight sets. The American youngster earned a thundering standing ovation on Court One as she clinched the match 6-4 6-4, falling to her knees in tears of disbelief as parents roared their approval from the players’ box. World number 301 Coco, who won the French Open junior title last year, was given a wildcard into the Wimbledon qualifying event at Roehampton. She said it had always been a ‘dream’ to play one of the Williams sisters, who inspired her to pick up a racket aged seven although it was Venus’s younger sibling Serena who featured in the poster on her bedroom wall as a “reminder to work hard every day”. “Honestly I don’t know how to feel,” she said. “This was the first time I ever cried after winning a match. I don’t even know how to explain how I feel.” Coco slept through the draw on Friday morning and woke to a two-word text from her agent: “Venus Williams.” She said: ‘I didn’t know what that meant. Does she want to practise with me? Then I looked at Instagram and it was crazy, everyone tagging me, excited for the match. You are still shocked when you play your hero. I just treated it like another match. I got my dream draw and I managed to pull it out of the bag. I get compared to Venus a lot; our body shape is the same, we play the same but on court I definitely felt like me.” Born in Atlanta, Coco – whose real first name is Cori – was taken to Florida by her parents Corey and Candi to give her a better chance of becoming a tennis star. Her father is still her main coach while her mother, a former gymnast and student athlete, schooled her at home. Coco, a huge fan of Beyonce and Rihanna, was the youngest US Open junior finalist at 13 and, according to Forbes, is set to earn $1million (R14 127 400) from endorsements this year. Williams said she didn’t play well but was “happy to see Cori playing great”. THEY make an odd couple, that’s for sure, but the hastily arranged union between Novak Djokovic and Goran Ivanisevic will progress to a second date. How far they go will largely depend on the Serbian’s fortunes in retaining his title here, but so far all is good between Djokovic and his latest mentor. That the relationship was only announced on Sunday, and to widespread surprise, suggests the 32-year-old felt something was missing from his game. But in the first round against Philipp Kohlschreiber, those deficiencies, whatever they may be, were not obvious to the naked eye. There was some uneasy footing, which might be expected from a man who has not played competitively since the semi-finals of the French Open. Otherwise it was a solid demolition of a player who, even at 35, has the capacity to spring an upset. Indeed, Kohlschreiber beat Djokovic in straight sets at Indian Wells earlier this year and at 57 in the world is no slouch, even now that his days as a top-20 player are past. Had the German done a better job on the back of those early breaks, then maybe Djokovic would have been in trouble, but instead the four-time champion broke back immediately both times, and by the close had fired down 12 aces and 36 winners in winning 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 in a little over two hours. Decent numbers and a decent start to the new arrangement with Ivanisevic, who will work alongside Djokovic’s main coach Marian Vajda. Speaking about it for the first time, Djokovic, who has previously sought similar inspiration from Andre Agassi and Boris Becker, said: “I spoke to Goran and asked him whether he was available to have a trial type of tournament where we see how it works. I don’t know if he will be able to stay for the whole tournament as he’s got some commitments in the second week, but everything so far has been working really well. “He’s a Grand Slam champion, a top player for many years. He was kind of a hero of mine.” Amusingly, Djokovic recalled being around Ivanisevic’s training camp in 2001, shortly before the Croat won the Wimbledon title. His job as a talented 14-year-old at the Niki Pilic Tennis Academy in Germany was to bring Ivanisevic refreshments. “Those snacks really made the difference for him at Wimbledon,” joked Djokovic, who next faces the world No 111, Denis Kudla of the USA. It remains to be seen what Ivanisevic can bring as Djokovic goes deeper into the tournament. At the very least, he might serve to clear Djokovic’s mind amid the political wrangling he has involved himself with in his controversial work on the ATP player council. With an uncluttered head, he will take some beating here. |