Coco Gauff Serena Williams as the greatest player of all time and described how she has influenced her career.

At just 20 years old, the tennis star grew up watching the 23-time Grand Slam champion dominate tennis and raise the standard to new heights alongside sister Venus.

Seeing some with a similar background succeed in the sport inspired the World number three to not become a professional player but carve out her own legacy.

This is something the US Open champion elaborated on during an interview with Tennis Channel at the French Open.

Coco Gauff remains inspired by Serena Williams in her quest for GOAT status

Though she has a long way to go to match Williams’ accolades, Gauff has certainly made a great start. She has seven titles to her name, one of which is a Grand Slam, and is ranked Number three in the world.

When Gauff was asked by Tennis Channel if she still had ambitions to be the greatest tennis player, she mentioned Williams as a driving force.

“It’s something I definitely want to trend to. I think for me, I just want to win as many slams as possible and be inspired by Serena Williams,” she said.

“I think she is the one and true and only goat. But I think just being inspired by her, it just allowed me to make my dreams as limitless as possible. I was taught from a young age to make your dreams as big as possible.

“Even if they don’t feel realistic just because I don’t know, I feel like you can box yourself in if you say, I just want to get this, and I just want to get that.”

Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Lotte New York Palace

Has Coco Gauff ever played Serena Williams?

Gauff burst on the scene as a 15-year-old with a run to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2019.

That year Williams reached the final, where she was beaten by Romania’s Simona Halep.

In the time between Gauff’s breakthrough and the former World number one’s retirement at the 2022 US Open, they did not play a match against one another.

However, Gauff did play Venus Williams on two occasions. She defeated her in the first round of Wimbledon in 2019 before winning their Australian Open match in 2020.