Coco Gauff offered a beautiful tribute to Serena Williams, who taught the young star to never 'settle for less'

• Tennis legend Serena Williams is set to retire from the sport after the 2022 US Open.
• American wunderkind Coco Gauff offered a beautiful tribute to her idol ahead of the Grand Slam.

Serena Williams has had an invaluable impact on aspiring tennis stars.

Once upon a time, a young hopeful named Coco Gauff was no exception.

The American wunderkind, who won her opening match at the 2022 US Open over Leolia Jeanjean of France, grew up idolizing Williams — just like virtually every other budding talent in the sport. But as a young Black girl coming up in Florida's elite tennis scene, Gauff could relate to Williams to an extent few others could.

Ahead of the 2022 US Open — where Gauff hopes to win her first major title and Williams will more than likely play her last — the 18-year-old lauded the 23-time Grand Slam champion for breaking through and becoming a legend "in a sport that's predominantly white."

"That's something that as a little girl — and even now — meant a lot to me," Gauff said during US Open media day. "Especially, like, growing up, before I was born, there wasn't many. Before Serena came along, there was not really an icon of the sport that looked like me.

"So growing up, I never thought that I was different because the No. 1 player in the world was somebody who looked like me," she added. "I think that's the biggest thing that I can take from what I've learned from Serena."

Gauff first took interest in tennis at four years old, when she watched Williams take down Dinara Safina for the 2009 Australian Open title.

She's often described idolizing both Serena and Venus — a seven-time Grand Slam champion in her own right — throughout her childhood. Fittingly, Gauff catapulted to tennis superstardom by beating the elder Williams sister at Wimbledon in 2019, at just 15 years old.

She was already on the Williams family's radar by that point. But now that she's one of the biggest names in the sport, Gauff has gotten "to have a couple conversations" with both Serena and Venus. And, just as she did as a kid, Gauff continues to admire the GOAT from afar.

"It's just the way that she handles herself — she never puts herself down," Gauff said. "I love that she always elevates herself. Sometimes being a woman, a Black woman in the world, you settle for less. I feel like Serena taught me that, from watching her, she never settled for less. I can't remember a moment in her career or life that she settled for less.

"I think that's something I took from her," she added. "As a person, I'm growing into being an adult and learning how to handle things now with the media and tennis and everything, I'm trying to learn to not settle for less."