Coco Gauff's mother Candi celebrates daughter becoming youngest American woman since Venus Williams to win an Olympics singles match
Coco Gauff recently became the youngest American woman to win a singles match at the Olympics since Venus Williams in 2000. 20-year-old Gauff got the better of Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round and continued her good form to defeat Maria Lourdes Carle in the second round. Gauff's mother, Candi, proudly celebrated her daughter's achievement.
Gauff has enjoyed a perfect start to her Olympic campaign in Paris, winning all three matches played thus far—two in singles and one in women's doubles.
Gauff, who also became the youngest American Olympics flag-bearer, opened her campaign on Saturday, July 27, with a women's doubles first-round win, partnering Jessica Pegula. The American duo defeated the Australian pair of Daria Saville and Ellen Perez 6-3, 6-1.
On Sunday, July 28, the World No. 2 played her first singles match and inflicted more pain on Australia as she ousted Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-0. Courtesy of the impressive win, she became the youngest American woman since Venus Williams to win a singles match at the Olympics.
Candi Gauff, Coco's mother, took to her Instagram Story to celebrate her daughter's achievement:
On Monday, July 29, Gauff added another victory under her belt as she defeated Argentina's Maria Lourdes Carl 6-1, 6-1 to advance into the Round of 16.
“I knew that she was just going to probably try to out-rally me, which I feel like is one of my strengths. But also I had the ability to be aggressive,” Gauff said about the matchup with Carle.
"So I think I was just trying to balance the mistakes and not let her win a lot of points off my racket,” she added.
Coco Gauff will take on Croatia's Donna Vekic in the Paris Olympics 2024 3R
Coco Gauff will take on Croatia's Donna Vekic in the third round of the 2024 Paris Olympics. This will be the first time the pair will face off on tour.
13th seed Vekic got the better of Italy's Lucia Bronzetti in the first round 6-2, 7-5. In the second round, the Croat ousted Canada's Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 6-4 to set up a third-round clash against the young American.
Meanwhile, Gauff and her doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, will face the Polish duo of Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova in the second round of the women's doubles event.
The reigning US Open champion is also competing in the mixed doubles tournament, teaming up with Taylor Fritz to face Argentina's Nadia Podoroska and Maximo Gonzalez in their opening match.