Wimbledon 2022: Cori Gauff - Already the best ambassador in women's tennis
Cori Gauff is one of the favorites in the 2022 Wimbledon tournament. The 18-year-old has already confidently contested the press conference on Media Day.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 25, 2022, 08:19 pm
By Jens Huiber from London
You shouldn't put too much stock in the results of training sets, most pros try out a few variations and don't follow all the offers from their respective playmates. But it can be said with some certainty: Barbora Krejcikova didn't see much light during her practice session with Cori Gauff on Court 12 on Saturday. The 18-year-old American played too fast, Gauff moved too well. Krejcikova, still not in the form he was in Roland Garros last year, could often only wave his hand. And drag yourself to the next rally.
But that wasn't the strongest performance of the day by Gauff, who shook up the tennis world for the first time here in Wimbledon as a 15-year-old with a win against Venus Williams. Because it came in the press conference on Media Day, which had the following line-up to offer in the large interview room 1: with Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal three former champions for men, plus local hero Cameron Norrie. On the women's side, the two best players of the year, Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur, were allowed to express themselves, Emma Raducano provided the local color and, of course, Serena Williams was not missing. And neither: Cori Gauff.
Serena has held the flag high long enough
The comparison with Swiatek and Serena showed how amazingly far Gauff has come in terms of development. Actually, Swiatek should be the first ambassador of women's tennis, the Pole has won 35 matches in a row, leads the world rankings with almost twice as many points as her successor. Swiatek is very personable in her performance, the only thing that stuck in the end was that she was too shy to say hello to Serena during Friday training on Center Court. The fact that English is only Iga Swiatek's second language may play a role here.
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Serena, on the other hand, who fulfilled her media obligations after Swiatek and before Gauff, has held up the flag of women's tennis long enough, in case of doubt alone. She gives herself Wimbledon again, let's see what comes of it. Serena has buried her sense of mission in matters of sport and politics, at least this afternoon in London.
Gauff answers all questions
And so Cori Gauff jumped into the breach, commenting as a matter of course on the thorny issue of the Supreme Court's recent ruling revoking the legalization of abortion ("It looks like we're going backwards again."), her own Scolded me as a 15-year-old ("I guess I was a bit delusional about the amount of people who wanted to see me win here.") and yet didn't reveal who she'll be competing with in mixed doubles ("I don't know if he wants me to announce it.").
One would like to see and hear more from this teenager, who, after reaching her first Grand Slam final a few weeks ago, credibly assured in an on-court interview that there were more important things than tennis. Gauff is seeded number eleven in the third major of the year, starting on Tuesday against Elena-Gabriela Ruse from Romania. Incidentally, on the way to the first major title, she could meet her speakers before and after her: Serena in the quarterfinals, Iga in the semifinals.
Here is the women's individual tableau
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