Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff idolize Serena, Venus Williams beyond tennis

SAN JOSE Serena Williams hasn’t been to the Bay Area for its annual Womens tennis tournament since 2018.

And, given that she won a single set in a first-round loss that year, the sports Greatest player hasn’t really been a player in the Bay Area tournament since she won it in 2014. But even if she isn’t physically here in San Jose this week, her impact looms over the event.

Two of the biggest superstars currently in the sport will square off Thursday night, as Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff are set to battle in a second-round matchup at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

And both Osaka and Gauff have credited Williams and, by extension, her older sister Venus for influencing them as they were growing up.

When I was younger, the family event would be watching Serena and Venus, Osaka said this week. So when I was watching that, that pushed me a lot. I never got to watch them play live, in a match, but I’ve gotten to watch their practices. Seeing that, seeing people that look like me, its definitely inspiring.

The Williams Sisters began playing high-level competitive tennis before either Osaka, 24, or Gauff, 18, were born. For the two facing off on Thursday in front of what’s expected to be a sellout crowd, they’ve only known a world where at least two players who look like them were Shining in the sport.

And now, before Osaka and Gauff took the court together for the fourth time, they both agreed that another match between two prominent players of color would reinforce a powerful message to young Black girls interested in tennis.

For me, it would mean a lot, if I was a kid, Osaka said.

Gauff agreed: If I put myself in those shoes, it would mean a lot to me.

Before her Wimbledon debut at age 15, Gauff said the Williams Sisters were her idols. Then she went out and beat Venus in her first match at the All England Club.

Osaka also has had high-profile matches of her own against Serena, including a 2018 Victory at the US Open that featured outbursts from Williams directed towards chair umpire Carlos Ramos. But that didn’t change her appreciation for the 23-time Grand Slam champion.

As a Black female athlete, I credit (the Williams sisters) for breaking down barriers for me,” Osaka told Self Magazine earlier this year.

The Legacy of Black tennis players started with Althea Gibson, who won five Grand Slam titles in the 1950s, and Arthur Ashe, a Winner of three Grand Slam tournaments in the 1960s and 1970s. They set the foundation that the Williams Sisters launched from, although not without plenty of strife and abuse along the way.

Serena and Venus have been outspoken about issues in the sport and beyond, standing for what they felt was right. They boycotted the annual Indian Wells tournament for years because of a 2001 incident in which some fans directed racial slurs at Venus and her father, Richard.

Serena also has become a prominent voice on the tennis circuit in advocating for positive change, fighting against issues like pay inequality, sexism and racism on the tour. In that way, the younger generation has followed suit, too. Osaka has been outspoken about mental health issues she has battled, including bouts of depression that have at times forced her to take time away from the game.

While Gauff, six years younger than Osaka, has not driven change on that scale yet, she views social action as part of her career goals.