PARIS: Venus Williams and Coco Gauff, 23 decades apart old, fell in the first hurdle of their French Open women’s doubles on Wednesday if they lost 7-6(5) 4-6 3-6 into 13th seeds Ellen Perez and Zheng Saisai.
Gauff was in the spotlight since her astonishing rush to the fourth round because a 15-year-old in Wimbledon in 2019, when she pumped out Williams, her idol plus a seven-time big winner, even in her opening game.
She beat fellow American Williams at a year’s Australian Open in her way into the fourth round at Melbourne.
On Wednesday, Williams, 40, and also Gauff, currently 17, took the opening series from the tiebreaker amid enormous cheers from the audience but moved down in the subsequent two in a game that lasted 2 hours and 11 minutes.
Williams has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, with her younger sister Serena, who’s pursuing a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title in Paris.
Gauff, whose ordinary doubles partner Caty McNally endured an accident, has won three doubles titles in her career as well as her two sisters crowns.