As a teenage sensation, professional tennis player Coco Gauff gained notoriety. She most recently won the 2023 U.S. Open.
Months in advance, even as early as January, Coco Gauff had her sights set on the Olympics in Paris. While participating at the Australian Open earlier this year, Gauff stated, “Winning a medal in the Olympics was one of the goals I wrote down on my vision thing, vision note, in my phone.”
Gauff, who is currently 20 years old, was given that chance on June 20 when she was selected for the American Olympic squad for 2024. The top American and No. 2 rated women’s player in the world, Gauff will be accompanied in France by Danielle Collins, Emma Navarro, Desirae Krawczyk, and Jessica Pegula, her regular doubles partner. On July 27, Olympic matches kick up in Paris.
The native of Florida has stated that she would like to compete in the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles Olympic sports. “We’ll have to see where I rank in the lineup and everything else. It is unquestionably a priority, according to Gauff. “Both singles and doubles have prioritized the Olympics.”
In an attempt to become the first American tennis player—male or female—to win a gold medal in singles play since Serena Williams did so in the 2012 London Games, Gauff is scheduled to compete at Wimbledon in early July. Gauff was chosen to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, however he was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19 due to the pandemic.
Coco Gauff: Who Is She?
The 19-year-old tennis star Coco Gauff is regarded as the best young American women’s player since Serena Williams after she won the 2023 U.S. Open. Gauff, a native of Florida, ignited “Cocomania” following his upset victory of five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the opening round of the 2019 Wimbledon wild card entry. The young sensation won her maiden singles championship and advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open in that same year. Her skills have only gotten better, and in 2024 she will compete for the United States in the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Cori Dionne Gauff
BORN: March 13, 2004
BIRTHPLACE: Delray Beach, Florida
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Pisces
Childhood and Parents
Born in Delray Beach, Florida, on March 13, 2004, Cori Dionne Gauff is also known as Coco Gauff. She told Sports Illustrated Kids that her aunt proposed naming her Coco, a play on one of her father’s previous nicknames, to avoid misunderstanding with their similar names. She was named after her father, Corey. Coco’s younger brothers are Cody and Cameron.
It runs in the family to be athletic. Her father was a Division I basketball player at Georgia State. Candi, her mother, competed in Division I track and field at Florida State University in addition to being a gymnast. Coco’s parents wanted their firstborn to participate in sports because they were athletes. So, at the age of six, she started playing tennis.
Georgia was where Coco was born and raised. Her father was an executive in the pharmaceutical industry, and her mother was a teacher. Gauff’s parents decided to resign from their employment and return to Delray Beach in order to help with their daughter’s tennis training and career. Candi started homeschooling her kid, and Corey took on the role of coach.
Champion of Junior Tennis
When Gauff was ten years old, she had gone to France to train with Serena Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Although she kept training with Mouratoglou, her primary coach remained her father.
Regarding Gauff’s growth, Corey has stated, “One thing we emphasized with Coco early on; she was in gymnastics, soccer, basketball, and track. Be a well-rounded athlete, learn other sports.” Our goal was for her to grow into a complete athlete.
In 2014, Gauff emerged victorious in the USTA Clay Court National 12-under division. She finished second in the U.S. Open Girls Junior Championships in 2017. She won the junior title in the French Open the following year.
WTA regulations, which were implemented in 1994, state that teenage tennis players cannot become professionals until they are eighteen, with a few exceptions for those who compete in a certain number of professional events annually. The structure was designed to safeguard players, but some have questioned if it is overly restrictive. Gauff’s ascent in the player rankings during her first few years of competition had been sluggish due to her restriction on the amount of tournaments she could participate in.
Professional Tennis Career: 2023 U.S. Open Champion
Gauff declared to her loved ones in January 2019 that her objective for the year was to rank among the top 100 WTA players. At the time, she held the 685th rank. A week after turning fifteen, she made her WTA debut at the Miami Open in March, defeating fellow American Caty McNally in her maiden match.
Gauff hurried to travel to London in June 2019 after being awarded a wild card spot to compete at Wimbledon. She squared off against Venus Williams in the opening round. Williams, along with her sister Serena, was a five-time Wimbledon champion and an inspiration to Gauff when it came to tennis.
The 15-year-old became the youngest player to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon since 1991. Her triumph garnered so much attention that the word “Cocomania” was born. She was the youngest player to reach the third round of the U.S. Open since 1991 shortly afterward. After her defeat, Naomi Osaka, the champion, showed amazing sportsmanship by inviting Gauff to participate in the post-match interview.
2023 U.S. Open Victory
Gauff had not yet won a Grand Slam event, while having a strong ranking in the top 10 as of September 2022. Her best result came in the French Open 2022 as runner-up. But at the 2023 U.S. Open, she eventually made a breakthrough by winning her maiden Grand Slam championship.
Just a few weeks prior, the 19-year-old made history at the Western & Southern Open by upsetting No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek to become the youngest woman to win the singles title.
After arriving in New York, Gauff won six matches to secure her place in the championship match, three of which were against players ranked in the top 20. A semifinal match was disrupted for about 50 minutes due to a climate protest. On September 9, she defeated Belarusian star Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to claim the overall championship. Since Serena Williams won the competition in 1999, she became the youngest American woman to do it.
When Gauff and partner Katerina Siniaková won doubles at the French Open in June 2024, it became her second major victory.
2020 and 2024 Olympics
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Gauff’s victory in the June French Open earned her a spot on the American Olympic team in 2021. Since 2000, the 17-year-old would have been the youngest Olympian in tennis.
Gauff was ultimately had to withdraw from the Games due to a positive COVID test. “I am so disappointed to share the news that I have tested positive for COVID and won’t be able to play in the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” she tweeted on July 18, 2021. Being an Olympic representative for the United States has always been an ambition of mine.
At the upcoming Games, Gauff won’t be excluded from the global arena. She was chosen to represent the United States in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as the top American player and the second-ranked player in the world. She and her partner Jessica Pegula are anticipated to compete in both singles and doubles.
Ranking and Stats
At the 2024 French Open, Coco Gauff celebrates winning the doubles championship with partner Katerina Siniakova.
Gauff started her career as low as No. 875 in 2018, but she has since risen swiftly through the professional levels.
Gauff holds the highest ranking of her career as of June 24, 2024, when she is ranked second in the WTA women’s singles rankings. Only Polish player Iga Światek, a five-time Grand Slam champion, trails her. Gauff is presently rated No. 11 in the women’s doubles division. She had been number one twice before, in August 2022 and September 2023, both times with partner Jessica Pegula.
Gauff reached two semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open in 2024, in addition to her victory in the U.S. Open singles. She also advanced to one other major final at the 2022 French Open. As of June 28, 2024, her career statistics are:
- Career singles matches won: 207
- Career singles losses: 92
- Singles titles: 7
- Doubles titles: 9
- Major singles titles: 1 (2023 U.S. Open)
- Major doubles titles: 1 (2024 French Open)
- Career prize money: $14,854,767
Net Worth
As of February 2024, Gauff’s entire wealth is estimated by Celebrity Net Worth to be approximately $3.5 million, while other estimates put it much higher. Regardless, Gauff’s income has increased consistently during the course of her work.
She received prize money of $538,103 in 2019 and $509,862 in 2020. In 2021, her winnings surpassed $1 million. As of June 2024, Gauff had earned over $14.8 million in career prize money, according to the WTA, and had earned $3 million for her historic triumph at the U.S. Open in 2023.
Outside of the court, Gauff has endorsement agreements with Baker Tilly, UPS, Bose, Barilla, and New Balance. Gauff earned an estimated $22.7 million in 2023, making her the highest-paid female athlete, according to Sportico, in large part because of those relationships. Roger Federer co-founded Team8, the agency that represents the tennis player.
