Following in Serena Williams‘ footsteps and becoming the next Serena are two different ball games. While Coco Gauff is a big fan of Serena Williams, paper talk about the 20-year-old becoming the next Serena is rampant.

Recently, the third-ranked tennis player shared a video of an interview in which she talked about dreaming big and chasing records on the tennis court. In that conversation, she clearly stated that she wanted to be her own authentic self and carve out a legacy that would be quite distinct from the 23-time Grand Slam champion.

She stated, “People compare me to Serena, but I’ve never said, I want to be her. I just want to be me. I want to have my own story. My life, my rule is to just dream big and let’s see what.” 

Nevertheless, the video stressed on the idea of dreaming big, with Baker Tilly US, a leading advisory CPA firm. The caption read, “Now what? Just watch me 💪🏾 Catch a glimpse into my recent conversation with @bakertillyus to discuss my determination to dream big.”

Last year, before the US Open, she again responded to the comparisons between her and the 42-year-old tennis legend. Speaking to PEOPLE, the US Open champion stated that she is “not trying to fulfill those footsteps whatsoever.” She continued, “Obviously, I do want to be the best version of myself and be the best that I can be.”

Although, the 20-year-old has already acknowledged that Serena Williams’ influence changed the way she played. She also incorporated a particular aspect of the 23-time Grand Salm champions’ training regimen, which aided in her progression to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.

Coco Gauff ‘returns’ Serena Williams’ favor to the game

Serena William’s influence made Gauff make returning a regular part of her schedule. The 2023 US Open winner picked a page from Serena’s playbook to improve her game.

“Yeah, I think it came with just reps. I would spend a lot of time returning. One thing I learned from Serena is that she would spend probably like an hour sometimes literally just hitting returns,” the 3rd seeded player said.

As she has so often done, the 23-time Grand Slam champion has motivated Gauff to get better. Safe to say, many athletes all around the world  dared to dream because of Serena, and Gauff was no different. However, Gauff is not willing to be cowed down by the pressure of expectations that come with being compared to one of the greats in tennis.

Do you think the Serena Williams comparison is justified in the case of Gauff at such a nascent stage of her career? Let us know in the comments section below.