At age 19, tennis superstar Coco Gauff is already one of the most accomplished athletes in her sport. She is currently ranked third in the world by the World Tennis Association and ranked as high as first in doubles competition. She has performed like a champion at this year’s U.S. Open, where she played in the Finals for the first time in her career. As we cheer her on, The Root takes a look at the evolution of Cori Dionne “Coco” Gauff.
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2023- Winning the U.S. Open
On September 9, 2023, Coco Gauff won the U.S. Open after beating Aryna Sabalenka in a nail-biting bout! She is the youngest American to win the Open since Serena Williams in 1999. Along with the converted trophy, she was also given a monetary prize of $3 million.
2004- Born
Cori “Coco” Guaff was born to Candi and Corey Gauff on March 13, 2004, in Delray Beach, Florida. Both of her parents are former athletes. Candi was a track and field star at Florida State University. Corey played basketball at Georgia State University. Her grandfather is Eddie “Red” Odom who is a legendary baseball player.
Starting tennis
Coco picked up tennis at around six years old. Her parents both quit their jobs when Coco was in third grade to dedicate all of their time to advancing Coco’s career after she showed signs of a promising talent. Coco also has two younger brothers, Cody and Cameron who play sports.
2014- Training in France
When Coco was only 10 years old she traveled to France to get training from Serena Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. She began training at his Mouratoglou Academy with other top-tier players.
2018- Going pro
Guaff entered the junior league and was the youngest girl finalist at the junior US Open and one of the youngest at the junior French Open. Coco was only 14 years old when she went pro, the same age as Serena Williams who went pro in 1995.
2018- New Balance Endorsement
Gauff signed an endorsement contract with New Balance when she was 14 years old and now has her own tennis performance shoe collaboration with the brand called the Coco CG1. She is also endorsed/partners with Barilla, American Eagle, and Bose.
2019- Youngest player at Wimbledon
In 2019 at 15 years old Coco became the youngest player in the “Open” era to qualify for Wimbledon. Once there she was laser-focused and faced one of her idols, Venus Williams, beating her in the first round. That same year she also won her first Women’s Tennis Association title.
2019- Heartbreaking defeat
Later in the summer of 2019, Gauff’s winning streak came to a halt after losing to another young and fierce competitor, Naomi Osaka. Gauff had an emotional loss to Osaka at the US Open, but Osaka came to her side to console her in a sisterly way.
2021- Tokyo Olympics
Gauff continued to move up in rankings over the next two years after the summer of 2019 and eventually made it on Team USA for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (carried out in 2021 due to COVID-19). However, she was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid before the festivities.
2022- #1 ranked in doubles
In August 2022, Gauff was ranked #1 in the world for doubles with her partner Jessica Pegula after winning the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada. She was the second youngest player in history at 18 years old to hold a doubles no.1 ranking.
2023- Adding to her WTA title collection
2023 has been one of Guaff’s most successful career years so far. This year she has won three WTA titles, adding to her collection of two others from 2019 and 2021.
2023- Acting debut
In March 2023, Gauff made her acting debut starring in an episode of one of her favorite shows, CW’s All American.
2023- More “firsts”
In April she won her first career Billie Jean King Cup single and later this year in August she became the only teenager and the youngest player to win the Mubadala Citi DC Open.
2023- Grand Slam hopeful
Currently, the teenager is on her way to her first Grand Slam title competing in the U.S. Open. Getting a Grand Slam is winning the Australian, British Wimbledon, France, and U.S. Open in one season.
2023- Calling out the referee at the U.S. Open
During Guaff’s first match at the Open, she had a viral moment for calling out her referee and opponent. Her opponent, Laura Siegemund, was delaying the match and the referee was not calling out her behavior. Guaff confronted both of them for the annoying situation, which was met with support from the crowd as they also noticed the unfairness.
2023- U.S. Open Semifinals
On September 7, Guaff won her match against Czech player Karolína Muchovátk and advanced to the finals for the first time in her career. The match did not come without difficulties as there was an over 40-minute delay in the middle of the match due to protestors disturbing the peace.
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