The hype and hoopla surrounding a teen’s rise to the top of a particular sport can have an adverse effect on young players and Coco Guaff became a prime example of that last year.

Gauff recorded a few upsets at Wimbledon and at the U.S. Open. But she said her budding career was nearly stymied after struggling to deal with her rapid rise and popularity in the sport.

TENNIS TOURS COORDINATING POSSIBLE POST-VIRUS RESCHEDULING

“Throughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn’t want,” she wrote in a post for Behind the Racquet on Wednesday. “It added this pressure that I needed to do well fast.

“Right before Wimbledon, going back to around 2017/18, I was struggling to figure out if this was really what I wanted. I always had the results so that wasn’t the issue, I just found myself not enjoying what I loved.”

WIMBLEDON CANCELED AMID CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

She revealed that for about a year she was “really depressed” and considered taking a year off just to reset herself and focus on her life.

“Choosing not to obviously was the right choice but I was close to not going in that direction. I was just lost,” the 16-year-old wrote. “I was confused and overthinking if this was what I wanted or what others did. It took many moments sitting, thinking and crying. I came out of it stronger and knowing myself better than ever.”

Despite beating Venus Williams in one of her first matches at the highest level of tennis, she said she wasn’t comfortable being compared to her or Serena Williams.

“First, I am not at their level yet. I always feel like it’s not fair to the Williams sisters to be compared to someone who is just coming up. It just doesn’t feel right yet, I still look at them as my idols," Gauff wrote.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“Of course I hope to get to where they are but they are the two women that set the pathway for myself, which is why I can never be them. I would never have even thought about joining tennis, without them a part of it, since there were very few African Americans in the sport.”

Before rankings froze due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gauff was ranked No. 52 in the world.