Possible Gauff-Williams Australian Open Match Sets Up Ratings Win

The Australian Open has set up a potential showdown between two American women’s singles stars.

Coco Gauff, 21, and Venus Williams, 45, will face off in a battle between American stars of two different generations—if both manage to win their opening-round match at the Grand Slam. The two are on the same side of the bracket and could meet in the round of 64.

Gauff will face world No. 55 Kamilla Rakhimova from Uzbekistan in the first round. Williams, who received a wild-card entry to the Australian Open, will battle No. 68 Olga Danilović from Serbia. A wild card is an invite granted by the Grand Slam organizers.

A match between the two American greats would be their third official face-off. The first was at Wimbledon in 2019, when Gauff was just 15, and the second was at the 2020 Australian Open. Gauff won both encounters, even though they occurred years before she became a two-time Grand Slam champion.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her,” Gauff said after their match in 2019. “I told her she was so inspiring and I’ve always wanted to tell her that but I’ve never had the guts to before. … I never thought this would happen. I’m literally living my dream right now.”

A battle between the two U.S. draws would likely be a gift for ESPN, which saw double-digit viewership declines for the Australian Open last year despite American Madison Keys taking home the title. Gauff is still considered the biggest women’s tennis viewership draw, as were Venus Williams and her sister, Serena, when they dominated the sport in the 2000s and 2010s. This year’s spike in attendance for the Australian Open also indicates increasing appetite for the tournament.

Gauff and Williams became an impromptu doubles team at the 2021 French Open after Caty McNally, Gauff’s original partner, sustained a late injury. Williams and Gauff lost in the first round.

But a matchup between the two Americans is no guarantee, despite Gauff being heavily favored in her first-round match. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, has just one official singles win since 2023—a victory over Peyton Stearns at the DC Open in July.

It was her first professional match in more than a year.

Williams, ranked No. 145 in the world, has not won a match since then, including a loss Monday at the Hobart International to 38-year-old Tatjana Maria of Germany. It was the oldest combined age between two women in a WTA main draw since the tour was founded in 1973.