In 2019, Coco Gauff burst onto the tennis scene after defeating tennis legend Venus Williams at the Wimbledon Championships.
Gauff, who was only 15 at the time, stunned Williams 6-4, 6-4 in front of thousands of fans on the Number One court.
Gauff became a household name overnight and has since become a two-time Grand Slam champion, winning titles at the US Open and French Open.
A few months after defeating Williams, young Gauff faced another superstar in the form of Naomi Osaka.
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Credit: Sofascore
Osaka, who was the world number one at the time, offered Gauff a message of support after defeating the young American in the US Open third round.
Naomi Osaka told Coco Gauff that she had done ‘amazing’ after defeating the young American
Osaka, who was the defending champion in New York, defeated Gauff 6-3, 6-0 on the court of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
After the match, Gauff completed an on-court interview, in which she was visibly emotional.
During the interview, Gauff was asked to reveal what Osaka had told her when shaking hands at the net at the end of their match.
As seen in US Open video footage, Gauff said: “She [Osaka] told me that I did amazing and good luck and then she asked if I could do the on-court interview with her and I said no because I knew that I was going to cry the whole time. But she encouraged me to do it.
Gauff was then asked to comment on the experience of playing in the US Open main draw for the first time, and on the experience of playing Osaka.
“I mean it was amazing,” Gauff began.
“I mean she did amazing and I’m going to learn a lot from this match and she’s been so sweet to me, so thank you for this. Thank you.”
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Naomi Osaka’s message to Coco Gauff’s family
After Gauff finished her interview, Osaka sent a heartfelt message to the 15-year-old’s family, who were watching from the Americans’ box.
A visibly emotional Osaka said: “I just want to say, if you’re still here, you guys raised an amazing player. I remember I used to see you guys training.”
Osaka lost in the fourth round to Belinda Bencic: 7-5, 6-4.
The tournament was eventually won by 19-year-old Canadian star Bianca Andreescu, who stunned Serena Williams in the final. After the match, Serena called her level of play ‘inexcusable’.
Andreescu, who has struggled with injury problems since, won the contest 6-3, 7-5.
