Coco Gauff is one of the WTA’s best players, and undoubtedly one of tennis’ biggest stars.
After all, she is the shining light of American tennis at the moment, as a two-time Grand Slam champion at just 22 years old.
Highly marketable and supremely well-spoken for someone so young, the future of the sport is in good hands with her at the forefront.
However, when given the opportunity, she is unsurprisingly unafraid to praise those who came before her.
And yet, rather ironically, Carlos Alcaraz opted to pick a current ATP player when discussing the greatest forehands in the history of the sport.
Coco Gauff builds her dream tennis player
Tasked with building her dream tennis player, she had to select a different player, past or present, for each area.
Gauff began with forehand, and it did not take her long to select Carlos Alcaraz: “I would say Carlos, just because I feel like he can hit a rocket from anywhere in the court.”
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Trusting herself, she then selected her own backhand, before going purely on statistics when choosing Ivo Karlovic for the serve.
Gauff continued: “Mentality, I’m gonna go Rafa. [Nadal] I think he has a great mentality.”
The youngster then selected Roger Federer for the grunt, due to being quieter than most, and Frances Tiafoe for the personality, claiming there are ‘very little people who don’t like Frances Tiafoe’.
When asked to select a player for tennis fashion, Gauff did not hesitate: “Serena Williams. Yeah, she has probably the best tennis fashion ever.”
It’s ironic that Gauff should mention the Spaniard not long after Joao Fonseca rated Alcaraz’s forehand, sparking a debate about who had the best one on the ATP Tour.
When Carlos Alcaraz compared his forehand to Rafael Nadal’s
Back in 2024, Alcaraz was actually asked to distinguish between his forehand and Rafael Nadal’s.
This was a tough question for the then 21-year-old, who had to toe the line between backing himself and respecting his legendary countryman and idol.
What do you think is Carlos Alcaraz’s best surface and why?
In the end, it should surprise no one that Alcaraz conceded, admitting: “I am at the start of my career, so I have to choose Rafa’s forehand at the moment.”
However, he did leave some room for growth, adding: “But I am really happy with my forehand as well, so let’s see at the end of my career who has the better forehand.”
