19-year-old pro-tennis player, Coco Gauff, whose real name Cori Gauff, sent the world into a collective cheer when she emerged as champion at the 2023 US Open tournament. Gauff, an Atlanta-born player, competed against Belarusian tennis player, Aryna Sabalenka, who is ranked No. 1 in women’s singles. Guaff’s landmark win is a stunning recovery following a string of losses.
This latest win has put Gauff in the ranks of tennis prodigies such as the Williams sisters who broke into the game at a young age and changed the tone of the game; representing for young Black girls in tennis and advocating for equal pay for women.
In honor of this win, here are five interesting facts about the prodigious tennis talent.
It All Started At Age Six
Coco Gauff started playing tennis at the very early age of six. The 19-year-old began playing after watching Serena Williams win at the 2009 Australian Open. Her father, Corey Guaff wanted her to be a basketball player, but it wasn’t a sport she was drawn to.
Young Legend
Coco Gauff just became the youngest US Open Champion since Serena Williams. The win also makes her the 11th teenager to ever win a grand slam title, it is a feat that crowns years of hard work and sacrifices from her family. While speaking with ESPN after her win, she shared that Saturday was the first time she ever saw her dad cry.
“He doesn’t want me to tell y’all that, but he got caught in 4K. He thinks he’s so hard, but you know he’s not … My dad took me to this tournament [years ago], sitting right there watching Venus and Serena [Williams] compete, so it’s really incredible to be on this stage.”
She Didn’t Attend College
Due to the demands of her career, Coco Gauff didn’t attend college. She graduated from high school last year while being homeschooled. Her mother, Candi Gauff, has always made the pursuit of education a priority in Coco’s life, once stating that “Tennis is secondary.”
Post-Match Activities Includes Watching Anime
While not showing off her impressive defense skills on the tennis court, some of the things Guaff watches Anime during downtime. In an interview, she mentioned that her post-match routine goes thus, “Press. Treatment. Watch some anime. No, literally today I watched like four or five episodes of ‘My Hero Academia’ before I played.”
Her Favorite Artist is J.Cole
If you don’t find Gauff hanging out on her TikTok page, you’ll find her listening to her favorite artist, J. Cole. “J. Cole’s my favorite artist,” she once told Bose in an interview.