Serena Williams: I was nowhere near Coco Gauff's level when I was 15
Serena Williams said that she was "nowhere near" as good as 15-year-old Coco Gauff when she was that age as the American great reached the Australian Open third round yesterday despite being far from her best.
The 38-year-old, one short of Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles, fought off 70th-ranked Tamara Zidansek 6-2, 6-3.
Williams faces China's 27th seed Wang Qiang next and could meet her fellow American Gauff in the quarter-finals in Melbourne.
But the teenager, who fought back to beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, will need to overcome Naomi Osaka next.
Williams and Gauff - touted as a possible long-term successor to the former world No. 1 at the top of women's tennis - spent some of the off-season together.
Sporting a pair of koalas painted on her nails in light of the devastation of Australia's deadly bush fires, Williams was mightily impressed by what she saw in "fighter" Gauff.
"She's just impressive all-round, from her personality to the way she plays," said Williams, the top-earning female athlete in the world.
"I think it's just all 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 different nowadays, so I'm not sure. But I was nowhere near as smart and eloquent as she is.
"It's nice to see."
Gauff turfed Serena's older sister Venus out in the first round in Melbourne, having done the same at Wimbledon last year.
Venus turns 40 in June, but Serena said she will be the first to retire out of the two sisters.
"Venus will outplay me, for sure, she loves tennis a lot," said Serena, who is in the twilight of her career but has given no hint that she plans to quit any time soon.
Earlier in the morning, Osaka, Ashleigh Barty and Caroline Wozniacki all advanced.
Wozniacki had tears in her eyes as she kept alive her dreams of a triumphant farewell to tennis. The Dane roared back in both sets to defeat 23rd-seeded Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 7-5, 7-5.
Barty took just 66 minutes to dismantle Slovenia's Polona Hercog, winning 6-1, 6-4, while Osaka despatched Zheng Saisai 6-2, 6-4. - AFP
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