London (AFP)
His incredible epic ended Monday at the doors of the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. But Cori Gauff, the 15-year-old American teenager, unknown to the general public a week ago and now in the spotlight, has made an appointment for the future.
There will be a before and after Wimbledon 2019 in women's tennis. The young resident of the Mouratoglou Academy will now have in her CV two birth dates, that of her marital status, on March 13, 2004, and that of her sensational debut on the world tennis scene, this month of July 2019. And if its hatching was also brilliant, it also owes it to the anonymity that had preceded it.
The microcosm of tennis had a long-standing eye on this prodigy, which has been setting records for precocity since the age of 10, just three years after starting tennis. But the general public was still ignorant of his talent.
She had won just one game on the circuit before the London fortnight in March in Miami. And she came out of the wood probably a little earlier than expected, the youngest player in history to integrate the main draw at Wimbledon.
- "Pretty unreal" -
From her first victory against her idol Venus Williams, 24 years her eldest, the native of Atlanta has changed hands. The press rooms, the interviews, the crowd following her, the spotlight on her ...
"It's pretty unreal as life can change in seconds," she said. She is also faced with a disconcerting ease. Programmed that it was for this passage to the light since already several years.
The sequel will tell if the native of Atlanta will confirm all the hopes she has engendered. And if the prophecy of John Mc Enroe, who sees badly how this girl could not become N.1 world before his 20 years, will be well realized. She has won over the English public, media and tennis fans alike. All this little world has taken a liking to this sparkling girl, who brings a breath of fresh air to women's tennis.
In England, 5.2 million viewers were in front of their posts to watch the teenager qualify for the second week of the British Major, 1.5 million more than for the shock Nadal-Kyrgios the day before.
- Support of the stars -
She received messages of support from planetary stars. From Beyoncé's mother, through Snoop Dog, to Michelle Obama. No doubt what surprised him the most.
"It means a lot to me because I've been admiring her for a long time (Michelle Obama, Ed.) She's a model, it really surprised me, I did not expect it, it was probably one of the supports I do not even know who I was expecting from - some of the celebrities who tweeted about me, I did not even know they were playing tennis, they probably do not follow him, d? elsewhere, but ... I do not know, it's crazy as it has grown. "
A craze that should not destabilize this girl pretty well framed.
"I'm going to take classes online, I always want to go to university, it's a bit of a requirement for my parents," she slipped. His staut has changed, his classification too, assured to integrate the top 150 after the end of Wimbledon, and his next steps will now be scrutinized with special attention.
But she seems ready. "She manages the pressure very well, she knows this very well, she has been waiting for years," Patrick Mouratoglou told AFP.
Spotted in France by the trainer of Serena Williams and coached by another French, Jean-Christophe Faurel, his success will perhaps make think the authorities of the tricolor tennis: no French has reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon this year, a first since 1993.
? 2019 AFP