Wimbledon’s 18-year-old sensation will have to continue her progress away from the limelight to find long-term success
Shortly after Coco Gauff returned to Centre Court on Thursday, for her first match there since her run to the fourth round of Wimbledon as a 15-year-old two years ago, she was asked in her press conference how different the experience felt now. Gauff shrugged. She didn’t really know. “I think the biggest thing is I don’t really remember much from my Centre Court experience in 2019,” she said. “I don’t know, I felt like it was all a blur.”
In all her amnesia, Gauff inadvertently touched on one of the key qualities of professional tennis – success requires short-term memory. One result, no matter how transformative it feels at the moment, is just one result. Gauff has competed in 25 tour-level events since then and each of them has been as important in her development. Having entered her first Wimbledon with a wildcard into the qualifying event, she returned as the 20th seed.
Written by Tumaini Carayol at Wimbledon
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/06/emma-raducanu-has-had-a-dazzling-rise-now-the-real-challenge-begins under the title “Emma Raducanu has had a dazzling rise: now the real challenge begins | Tumaini Carayol”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
