"I want to be the greatest." The 15-year-old who just defeated her idol Venus Williams.

Cori Gauff grew up idolising Venus Williams.

In fact, Venus and her sister Serena are the very reason the 15-year-old started playing tennis.

Right now Coco (as the American teenager prefers to be called) is living her self-confessed dream.

She just played at Wimbledon as the youngest ever player to qualify.

But more importantly she just won against the very woman she admires, Venus Williams.

Here’s Coco Gauff talking after her incredible win over Venus Williams. Post continues after video.

When Coco realised what she’d done, she broke down in tears on the court. She pulled off a 6-4, 6-4 first round victory against a five-time Wimbledon champion more than two decades her senior.

The teenager was overcome with emotion and in her post match interview showed us the perfect encapsulation of what it means to be grounded, yet confident.

“I want to be the greatest,” she told reporters. 

“I wouldn’t say I didn’t expect to win the match. I was just surprised I won. I was surprised people were cheering me on,” she added.

When asked about how it felt to win against her idol, Coco told reporters,“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. I told her she was so inspiring and I’ve always wanted to tell her that but I’ve never had the guts to before.”

She added that she’s spent her life being compared to Venus, “We have a similar body shape, and we play similar.”

A quick dig into Coco's past and we shouldn't be surprised by her performance on the court yesterday.

Yes, she's ranked 313th in the world, and yes Williams has won four of her seven grand slams including two Wimbledon's before Coco was even born, but this teenager has been quietly ticking off achievement after achievement away from the wider public gaze.

Two years ago (aged just 13) she made the final in the US Open junior circuit. She was the youngest finalist in history.

Last year, she won the junior French Open, making her the second youngest girl's champion ever.

Venus Williams was quick to praise the teenager's potential, observing, "I think the sky's the limit, it really is."

Watching Coco on the court it's easy to forget her age - she's powerful and incredibly focused.

She also stayed up way past her bedtime in the qualifying rounds finishing a science test, just to put her age into perspective.

"On my science test I got a B, but today I'd give myself an A," she said.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

young, wild, & free ????????

A post shared by Coco Gauff (@cocogauff) on Apr 19, 2019 at 2:52pm PDT

During a 14-minute post-match interview the high school student was composed, insightful and funny as she switched between questions about her life, to her demeanour on the court.

She wasn't afraid to tell the media scrum that she is "aggressive" on the court, but was quick to follow up with the fact that she's actually just a "goofy" teenager most of the time.

Coco will now play Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova in the second round of Wimbledon on Wednesday, and she'll have the world's eyes eagerly upon her.

She's the next big thing in sport.

Retired tennis great John McEnroe would be shocked, if she wasn't No 1 by the time she's 20.