Gauff and Raducanu to square off at AO

Teen prodigy Coco Gauff knows all about the pressure that can be heaped on a young and outrageously-gifted tennis player.

It comes with the territory for someone who in 2019 – aged just 15 years and three months – became the youngest player ever to qualify for Wimbledon, then beat her idol Venus Williams en route to the fourth round.

A run to last year’s French Open final only confirmed the 18-year-old Gauff’s status as the woman most likely to fill the post-Serena Williams void in the US tennis firmament.

But being the anointed next big thing in British tennis brings another level of pressure altogether, as Gauff readily acknowledged on Monday after booking a dream second-round clash at Melbourne Park with Emma Raducanu.

Raducanu’s astonishing triumph at the 2021 US Open as a qualifier – without dropping a set – was unprecedented in the Open era.

“I talk to her pretty much at all the tournaments,” said the seventh-seeded Gauff after downing Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-4 on Monday.

“I didn’t really know her that well in juniors, but I’ve got to talk to her more on tour now.

“Obviously she’s gone through a lot of pressure, bursting onto the scene, probably more than I have experienced, coming to win a slam.

“And especially I feel like being from the UK, being like the first British (woman) to do something in a long time, probably is a lot more pressure than what I’m used to being an American.”

Raducanu arrived at Melbourne Park under an injury cloud after rolling her ankle at the ASB Classic in Auckland earlier this month.

But she looked largely untroubled in a 6-3 6-2 win over German Tamara Korpatsch on Monday before immediately switching her focus to Wednesday’s next-gen clash with Gauff.

“I’m very up for it,” said Raducanu, who turned 20 year in November.

“Coco has obviously done a lot of great things and she’s playing well.

“We’re both good, young players, we’re both coming through – part of the next generation of tennis really.

“It’s going to be a great match.”