


IN BRIEF
‘Really nervous’ Coco beats Venus
Coco Gauff is just 15 but she now owns two Grand Slam victories over 39-year-old Venus Williams.
Gauff moved into the second round at the Australian Open in Melbourne with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over Williams on Monday.
“That was really difficult. She played really well,” Gauff said. “I was really nervous.”
It was the most anticipated match of Day 1 at the first major tennis tournament of the decade, and it didn’t disappoint. The first set, in particular, was intriguing, with Gauff repeatedly pulling ahead, only to have Williams — who already had won four of her seven Slam singles trophies by the time her foe was born — rebuff her.
It wasn’t until her fourth set point that Gauff finally pulled it out. She quickly grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second and never let that edge go.
Ranked 313th, Gauff became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history last year, then made it all the way to the fourth round, generating a ton of buzz, before losing to eventual champion Simona Halep. She backed that up with a run to the third round at the U.S. Open, then won her first WTA singles title later in the way.