On Thursday, Coco Gauff saw a photo memory from five years ago. It had the caption “courtside seats” at Arthur Ashe Stadium as she had watched one of her idols, Venus Williams, play.
“I was trying to flex to my friends that I had courtside seats, and now I’m on the court,” Gauff said while laughing in the post-match interview.
A day after that five-year anniversary, the No. 12 seed Gauff handily defeated the 20th seed, Madison Keys, 6-2, 6-3, and warmed up the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the second time this week for her other idol, Serena Williams, who was scheduled to play at 7 p.