Serena Williams versus Coco Gauff? It can happen, twice, in Auckland

Coco Gauff and Serena Williams, two of the biggest headline-makers in tennis last season, are two wins away from creating the first giant headline of 2020.

Should the 15-year-old Gauff defeat Laura Siegemund, and the 38-year-old Williams defeat compatriot Christina McHale, the two Americans will meet for the first time, in the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. (The two matches will be aired live, back to back, on Tennis Channel beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET.)

And if that’s not enough, should Gauff and Williams each win their next respective doubles matches, they’ll oppose each other for the doubles title.

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Neither Gauff nor Williams has dropped a set in either singles or doubles in Auckland. Camila Giorgi won five games against Williams; Viktoria Kuzmova won four games against Gauff. In doubles, Williams, partnering with Caroline Wozniacki, won their second-round match over the No. 1 seeds; Gauff, partnering with Caty McNally, won their first-round match over the No. 2 seeds.

As compelling as a WilWoz vs. McCoco doubles title match would be, though, the main focus for both players is on singles, and on a potential clash that would exceed most Australian Open matches in terms of intrigue. It was at Wimbledon last summer when Gauff met another Williams, Venus, in a match that made the tennis prodigy a household name. When Gauff won that first-rounder, 6-4, 6-4, she seemingly tapped into a reservoir of confidence that quenched her for the rest of 2019. She would go on to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon, the third round at the US Open, win her first WTA title and finish the year ranked No. 68.

Now with a year of pro-tour experience, a win over another idol could augur even greater things—perhaps before she even turns 16 (on March 13).

As for Williams, a hypothetical match against Gauff would be a pressure-filled moment she’d likely welcome before the Australian Open. She has played just one singles match since her US Open final loss to Bianca Andreescu, though she appears healthy and pepped for the new season.

Should the two face each other, Gauff would have one logical person to consult about facing Williams: McNally, who played Serena admirably in a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 defeat during last year’s US Open.

“Yes, I watched,” Gauff said when asked about the McNally-Williams second-rounder, played under the lights. “I knew I had to go to sleep. I can't go to sleep. I’m super proud of the way she played. Honestly, literally, she’s 17. This is just the beginning.”

McNally would surely say the same about Gauff, no matter who she may play in Auckland, or anywhere else this season. But if she happens to face Williams in the quarterfinals this week, you can bet she—and scores of other fans around the world—will be watching.