Coco Gauff turned to a piece of advice she learned from Serena Williams after suffering a straight sets loss to Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 Australian Open.

Serena Williams helped Coco Gauff get over painful Australian Open loss

Coco Gauff turned to a piece of advice she learned from Serena Williams after suffering a straight sets loss to Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 Australian Open.

Coco Gauff relied upon an invaluable lesson she learned from Serena Williams after suffering a heartbreaking defeat at the Australian Open in 2024.

In her first semifinal berth at Melbourne Park, Gauff suffered a straight sets loss to Aryna Sabalenka, who went on to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. On the heels of the match, she took a page out of Williams’ book – refusing to let the painful defeat ruin what was an overall great experience in Australia.

“Tough match for me. Overall a positive tournament. I had chances in both sets, but she played better tonight,” she said at the time. “I think it just came down to a couple of points, and that’s tennis. At this stage in any tournament, but especially a Grand Slam, whether I lost 6-1 6-1, or like I did today, or in a third-set tie-break, I still think it would hurt just as much.

“I watched these matches growing up and watching Serena [Williams] and watching [Maria] Sharapova lose these matches. When you’re in it, it feels like the end of the world but then when you look at history, they didn’t let one match define their career.

“I’m going to dwell on it but… the sun is going to rise tomorrow. Tomorrow, I don’t know, I’m going to try to go to the movies or something, be proud of myself.”

Coco Gauff lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal of the 2024 Australian Open (Image: Getty)

While Gauff has time and again referred to Williams as her “idol,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion has additionally heaped praise on her successor. “She’s just impressive all around,” Williams said of Gauff at the 2020 Australian Open. “From her personality to the way she plays. I think it’s all just super impressive.

“I was nowhere near her level at 15 either on the court or off the court, not even close. I know kids are growing up differently nowadays so I’m not sure. But I was nowhere near as smart and eloquent as she is so it’s just nice to see.”

Entering the first Grand Slam of this year, Gauff will look to achieve similar success as Williams, who won the tournament seven times in the Open era. The 20-year-old is coming off a dominant week at The United Cup, during which she didn’t drop a single set over five singles matches.

“I have the belief that I’m one of the best players in the world. When I play good tennis, I’m hard to beat,” Gauff said after besting Iga Swiatek in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

While the strong showing has given Gauff a wave of confidence heading into the Australian Open, the American phenom asserted that she goes into every Grand Slam with the utmost belief in herself. “Honestly, before every Grand Slam I have the belief that I can win,” Gauff said. “And especially after the U.S. Open, I proved that I could do it. I definitely have a belief that I can win.”