Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Coco Gauff is the queen of American tennis. She may be the queen of tennis in general. After she won the U.S. Open, former champ Chris Evert called her “the face of women’s tennis right now.”
Gauff is charismatic — she seems like a sweet girl off the court and yet also like a murderer on the court. She’s a crossover star, someone non-tennis fans care about. She has that “it” factor that makes a person a star. Gauff is so young — just 19 — that many of her Black fans want to protect her, and yet at the same time, we see her warrior energy, and we admire that, and we’re comfortable going into battle behind her. She is what it would look like if the warriors of Wakanda’s Dora Milaje played tennis.
Gauff is thrilling to watch — her power, speed and athleticism are awesome, but what Gauff is really all about is determination and the fighting spirit. You see that in the way Gauff conducts herself during a match. Her seriousness, her focus and her drive make her seem wise beyond her years. And when the match gets tight, Gauff steps up. She never chokes or lamely fades away. We can admire her maturity and wisdom while also connecting it to the woman-child we often see in Black America, that girl who’s so strong, she’s able to carry the load like an adult. Gauff is that in a tennis context — a teenager battling grown women and winning.
But the most exciting element of Gauff is…
Read the full article here
