Lightning in a Bottle: Coco Gauff

Fiend at Court Unplugged

There is a predictable reaction every time I publicly lament the fact that the tennis promotional machine needs to stop leaning on the aging stars of the game and start building up public interest in the future. It goes something along the lines of “Umm, haven’t you ever heard of Coco Gauff?” She is an interesting case study. The massive public interest and awareness of Gauff is lightning in a bottle. A happy accident.

Gauff’s breakthrough moment was undeniably at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. As a teenager playing under WTA age restriction rules, Gauff was limited on the number of tournaments and wildcards she could play and accept as a 15 year old that year. One of the wildcards that she was offered was for the Wimbledon qualifying tournament. She had to first win four matches before reaching the Wimbledon main draw.

Once in the Wimbledon main draw, Gauff had the good fortune of playing Venus Williams in the first round. Let’s expand on exactly what is meant by good fortune. Drawing Venus Williams as an opponent meant that the match was placed on a show court and televised. Venus is among the handful of current superstars whose matches are always broadcast in their entirety. In addition, the match would be re-aired ad nauseam until live play resumed the next day. Gauff lucked into her day in the sun.

Getting the opportunity to shine is one thing, delivering on the opportunity is another. Gauff won the match. The highlights were aired again and again and again. Gauff became an overnight sensation and captured the public imagination. Gauff leapfrogged many other American tennis players in terms of public awareness. I would be willing to wager that the general public thinks that the rankings list of the US Women runs something like Serena, Venus, then Gauff. Reality is quite a different story.

As of this precise moment, the rankings list of the American women is as follows: Kenin (4), Serena (8), Brady (14), Keys (24), Riske (29), Pegula (33), Gauff (35), Anisimova (39), Collins (43), Rogers (46), Stephens (53), Pera (70), Li (71), Davis (79), Brengle (82), McHale(91), and Venus (92).

My point? There are a lot of promising young American tennis players right now. While Gauff is the household name, it count have easily been any one of the other American women who played Venus Williams that day. That single match resulted in the exposure required as a catalyst to Gauff’s emerging stardom.

Had Gauff lost the match to Venus Williams, she would not have garnered the same attention. Additionally, she continued her hot streak at Wimbledon by winning her next two matches. Ultimately she lost to Simona Halep in the fourth round. Amazingly, viewership of each of Gauff’s match increased every time she walked out onto the court. In fact, Gauff’s matches earned the highest daily television ratings on those days that she played. That paved the way for Gauff’s matches to be automatically televised.

I rewatched that match between Gauff and Venus last week. That is easy enough to do because Wimbledon has posted a complete video on YouTube as a “Classic Match.” (Embedded link below.) The story lines were clear and compelling. The youngest player in the draw versus the oldest. The vignette that Gauff had watched Williams play as a an 8 year old and asked for her autograph. The announcers calling the match were effusive and positive about Gauff as a competitor from the very beginning and throughout the match.

Gauff’s breakthrough to superstardom was a lucky break for her career. It was also great for tennis. A player that captures the public attention – and more importantly, TV ratings eyeballs – is important for the future of the game. We need more breakthrough moments from the young players. Gauff is lightning in a bottle. Tennis needs to figure out a way to generate more opportunities for those breakthrough moments for other players.

So far, Gauff is sustaining the momentum she gained in that initial tournament. Tomorrow we will take a look at an alternate reality version of a very similar and real scenario when the star quickly fades. What happens in the case where a player gets their shot, capitalizes, and then… doesn’t follow it up with continued success? Spoiler alert: It isn’t good for tennis.