BEVERLY HILLS, June 02, (THEWILL) – The dream pairing of Coco Gauff and Venus Williams, which was a generational thrill for tennis fans, has ended as abruptly as it came alive after they lost in the first round of the French Open women’s doubles draw on Wednesday.
The American ladies successfully took the first set against Ellen Perez and Saisai Zheng but found their opponents stronger as the match progressed and they could not find the rhythm to build on their first set lead. The pair of Perez and Zheng turned on the style to win 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 and knocked the Americans out.
The encounter lasted over two hours giving the socially-distanced crowd enough to cheer about. After their loss, Gauff and Williams embraced before congratulating their opponents. They were playing as a pair for the first time and it was obvious that the experience was enticingly beautiful for the 17-year old Gauff and the 40-year old Williams.
Before this pairing, they had met in two singles matches against each other both of which Gauff had won. In fact, the first meeting was a memorable first-round match at Wimbledon in 2019. The teenager has long praised Williams for being one of her childhood idols and was living the dream pairing her at a major event.
An injury to Gauff’s usual doubles partner, Caty McNally, in the singles qualifying last week left Gauff ready to challenge in the doubles but without a partner. According to Gauff, her father, Corey, who is also her coach, reached out to Williams’ team shortly before the entry deadline to request for a doubles partnership at Roland Garros.
Gauff revealed that Williams’ acceptance took her by surprise: “I wasn’t expecting a yes, to be honest. It was worth the ask. I’m happy she said yes.”
On her part, Williams expressed her excitement about the pairing during a news conference on Tuesday. The veteran said about Gauff: “She’s so extremely talented that I’ll definitely be expecting her to do all the work.”
The fans, who obviously enjoyed the pairing, chanted “U-S-A” and sang a variety of songs, including “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Girl on Fire,” to encourage the pair throughout the match.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
