Coco Gauff will lead to a new era in the footsteps of Serena Williams and ladies tennis, writes Matthew Lambwell-after the 21-year-old triumph in the French Open

A double Grand Slam champion, a candle in the darkness for America, a cultural icon member is a lot on the shoulders of the 21-year-old Coco Gauff.

But she can handle it. It is becoming increasingly clear that there is nothing that this extraordinary young woman cannot handle. The transition from the Serena Williams Era would never be easy, but Gauff is the woman who will lead the tennis of women in the future.

It is very unlikely that she fits Serena’s performance on the tennis court – she still has 21 slams to go – but as a worldwide cultural icon she can have a similar impact. The way she ran to embrace the American filmmaker Spike Lee after the game showed resonance in pop culture.

“Knowing how much Serena meant to me – of course I will not have the same impact as she, but only a quarter of people influence, or less, those are still many people,” said the world NO2. “My biggest goal would be to let someone play professional tennis because of me.”

Asked about the difficult question what it means to be an American athlete – especially a black, female, liberal American athlete – in these stormy times, she spoke with courage and nuance about what she feels that her responsibilities are: “To be a representation of people looking like me in America in America who don’t feel so supported in America. A reflection of hope and light for those people.

‘Seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. Some people may feel a kind of way to be patriotic, but I am absolutely patriotic. I am proud of being American. I am proud to represent the Americans who look like me and people who support the things I support. ‘

Coco Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in Roland Garros on Saturday to win the French open

Victory sees the 21-year-old continues to follow in the groundbreaking footsteps of Serena Williams

But Gauff has already proven that she has the opportunity to realize the legacy of such an elevated figure

That seems a lot of pressure to turn yourself off, but – as top athletes should be – Gauff is a master of compartmentalization.

“Before and after competitions, when I feel that weight,” said Gauff. “On the field I just concentrate on the return of the ball over the net.”

And that is exactly what she did against Sabalenka. In windy circumstances, she drove or walked the ball into slices of slices to keep him in the game and 70 casual mistakes from the world NO1, which came 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Her parents Corey and Candi embraced each other and jumped around in the box. Gauff recently asked her father to take a step back from the input in her tennis and her mother to take a step closer, to travel with her during the Tour – was it difficult to convince them?

“They know if I say something, I really mean it,” Gauff said. “I’m a pretty dynamite personality.” You can say that again.