Caty McNally opens up on Coco, Federer to Lindsay Davenport on IG Live

From Novak Djokovic’s bare-all sessions with Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, to Rafael Nadal’s entertaining chat with Murray and Roger Federer, many of tennis' top players are flocking to Instagram Live to connect with their fans—and each other—while stuck at home.

On Monday, three-time Grand Slam titlist Lindsay Davenport became the latest star to join the social-media trend, hosting a conversation with compatriot Caty McNally. Ranked No. 124 in singles and 38th in doubles, the 18-year-old McNally is slowly carving out her own path on the tour.

Davenport asked McNally how it’s been coming up in the pros with doubles partner and best friend Coco Gauff. Together, the teens won two titles in 2019, and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January.

“Me and Coco obviously have a really good friendship off the court, which I think just allows us to play so well on the court," she said. "We’re just having so much fun and I think that’s what kind of the fans and everyone see.”

In 2019, the Cincinnati native reached her first career WTA singles semifinal in Washington, and took a set off her idol Serena Williams at the US Open. Davenport asked McNally what it was like playing her idol on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“That was crazy,” the young star said. “I knew in my first-round match, I was playing [Timea] Bacsinszky, and right when I won the match I knew that I would play the winner of Serena or [Maria] Sharapova and they were on Ashe right then. So, when I knew Serena won, I was just kind of…it was just crazy that I was going to play her next.

“Looking back there’s only good memories, even though I lost the match. Just only positive vibes and good things to take away from it.”

McNally also talked about meeting her other idol, Federer, last summer in her hometown of Cincinnati.

“I got to meet Roger a couple of times,” she said. “One time we talked for like 10 minutes. That was really cool. We talked about Cincinnati and just some of the places around Cincinnati that he’s been to, so he was really chill. It just felt weird, like, just when you see someone like that and they have that many accomplishments, you know he just like any other guy.”