Coco Gauff reveals her desire on $15 million.

Upon our initial encounter in 2019, 15-year-old Coco Gauff discussed her goals of becoming the greatest tennis player of all time, her parents, and her tests.

She was going to play her idol Venus Williams in the opening round of Wimbledon after qualifying. Her eyes appeared to be both wide with wonder and focused at the same time.

Although it was obvious that this intelligent adolescent was unique, none was prepared for the impending sports and cultural phenomenon.

We get together again on the Saturday before Wimbledon, five years later, to reminisce about that historic Championships debut and the years that have passed.

After fervently addressing an audience outside Delray Beach city hall as a 16-year-old following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Gauff has gone beyond tennis to become a Grand Slam champion.

Gauff wore training gear in 2019. Now, however, she is decked up like the diva she has become, complete with bucket hats, a yellow top flung over one shoulder, and cascading braids that were colored blonde just last week.

Gauff discusses how her aspirations for her career have evolved, why she is now prepared to leave her parents’ home, and how remembering them five years ago enabled her to win her first Grand Slam championship at the US Open last year.

However, the story starts in the summer of 2019 on Florida’s gulf coast, as Gauff writes.

She claims, “After losing the first round of qualifying in a 100-kilometer competition at Bonita Springs, my parents said, ‘OK, you need to figure out what you’re going to do,’ and then this happened.”

“I recall entering the Wimbledon qualifying round with a great sense of confidence that I would advance to the main draw.” The first two matches were something of a blur, but I won with the first seed in the first round.

“Maybe my dreams are closer than I realized,” was the idea that crossed my mind when I realized how absurd the Venus match was. A few months later, she appeared on the cover of Teen Vogue, captivating the public with her personality, skill, and promise to “change the world with her racket.”

She says, “You see those movies where people’s lives change completely and you don’t think that will happen to you, but it did.”

I never imagined my tale would be so interesting to the world, but it was, and I was adored by them for it. I was thrilled that watching me play brought folks delight.

In 2019, Gauff appeared to be a child in a rush, but her ascent to the top of the sport has been gradual. From 2019, her rating has increased annually: 69, 48, 22, 7, 3. She has risen to No. 2 so far this year.

Would Coco, as fifteen, have been satisfied with her accomplishments as a twentysomething?

“I believe she would,” Gauff answers. “As a teenager, I wanted to win a Slam and make it to Tokyo 2021.” I literally established those goals after I lost at Wimbledon in the fourth round.

I’m rather pleased with my handling of everything. It wasn’t simple.

The last statement alludes to the immense expectation that has permeated Gauff’s existence. Her lowest point in 2023 came from a first-round loss in this Slam. She had trouble in the first three Slams of the year. Gauff also discusses how thinking back to her debut at Wimbledon helped her get over her lowest point.

“I felt a lot of pressure after that first Wimbledon,” she recalls. I felt as though I wasn’t playing for myself and that expectations were practically suffocating me.

After losing in this round last year, things changed. I came to see that this way of thinking couldn’t last. I thought that if I kept playing tennis this way, it wouldn’t be pleasurable. I came to the realization that I should be concerned with myself, not with what other people thought of me.

I reverted to my 15-year-old mindset, where my only anxiety was related to playing Venus and not Wimbledon. That was the only match I was anxious about. However, I was never anxious in the second, third, or fourth rounds, and I now feel that way.