Coco Gauff Joins Serena Williams on U.S. Fed Cup Team, Second Youngest American in History

Coco Gauffis making headlines for another historic tennis moment.

The 15-year-old was included on the U.S. Fed Cup roster to play alongsideSerena Williamsin an upcoming qualifying series against Latvia, making Gauff the second-youngest American to play in the tournament.

The roster also includes Australian Open semifinalist Sofia Kenin — whoknocked out Gauffin the fourth round of the competition — 2017 Fed Cup champion Alison Riske and nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands, theU.S. Tennis Associationannounced.

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The U.S. team will play against Latvia in the Fed Cup for the first time, set to meet in Everett, Washington on Feb. 7-8. The winner of this tournament will go on to a Fed Cup tournament comprised of 12 nations in April.

Williams, 38, first played for the U.S. Fed Cup team in 1999 and last competed in the tournament in 2018.

Despite losing to Kenin in the Australian Open, Gauff is expected to secure herself a spot in the top 50 in rankings for her accomplishments in the tournament.

In the third round of the event, Gauff, whobecame the youngest player to eliminate a reigning champin the professional era, according to ESPN, beat the 2019 Australian Open champion, Naomi Osaka, 6-3, 6-4.

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“You don’t want to lose to a 15-year-old, you know?”Osaka said in her post-game interview. “Her serve is way better. I feel like I wasn’t really swinging freely, and she was.”

After that defeat, Osaka famously consoled a crying Gauff and included her in her post-win interview.

“I wanted to leave the court because I lost,” Gauff laughed while looking back at the moment during an appearance onTodaythat same month. “And [Osaka] was like ‘No, come with me’ and I was just shocked because no one ever does that.”

She explained that while she knew Osaka, they weren’t close at the time. “Obviously now we talk a lot more because of that moment,” she revealed. “I couldn’t thank her enough and I was really shocked. It was an emotional moment — good and bad emotions.”

But the young tennis star showed off different emotions after her win against Osaka on Jan. 24.

“Honestly, like, what is my life? Like, oh, my gosh!” Gaufftold the crowdduring her winning interview. “Two years ago, I lost first round in juniors, and now I’m here. This is crazy.”

source: people.com