African-American Tennis player, Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff in the footprints of pioneering players like Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe, and her role models, Serena and Venus Williams, is continously blazing her own trail in the world of tennis.
Gauff started playing tennis when she was 7 years old. She won Little Mo, a national tournament for children 8 years old and under, and decided she wanted to play more tournaments.
Nationals tournament in 2014, and five days before Christmas 2016, Coco won the girls’ 12s Junior Orange Bowl – a tournament that lists Madison Keys, Laura Siegemund, Sesil Karatantcheva and Tatiana Golovin as past winners.
She then made a splash at her first junior Grand Slam tournament in 2017, when she reached the girls’ final at the US Open in New York.
Gauff is currently the fifth-highest ranked African-American girl in the ITF World Junior Rankings. She is also the youngest player in the Top 750 and the youngest in the Top 50 by almost 18 months. Right now, at the ongoing 2020 Australian Open, the spotlight has been on her, especially for her feat of defeating one of her mentors, 39-year old Venus Williams, in the first round on Monday, the 20th of January, and defending champion, Naomi Osaka in the third round on Friday, the 24th.
What’s more? She doesn’t stop.
15 year old, Coco recognizes that she has inevitably become a role model, having set a penchant for uprising talent, and it is a title she firmly embraces.
“Everyone has a big dream as a kid,” Gauff tells Vogue in her first exclusive profile since the recent tournament. “But there are a lot of people out there who are too scared to follow theirs. I am just an example to get out there and go for it, because—with tennis—the worst thing that can happen is that you lose.”
Gauff has a tight support network, including a group of girlfriends. In all, as 15 as she is, and a pro at court, Coco has a life outside of tennis.
Gauff gets to indulge her other interests when she isn’t playing tennis. She relaxes watching make-up tutorials (favourite channels include Jackie Aina’s and Alissa Ashley’s). She is obsessed with online shopping and considers Rihanna a style maverick. She loves Billie Eilish, hip-hop and rap, especially tracks Icon by Jaden Smith and Humble by Kendrick Lamar. When she’s feeling down she likes to indulge her sweet tooth with warm brownies. “Hitting some tennis balls can actually really help too,” she says. “You let off steam, you can hit that ball as hard as you want.”
“Watching the Williams sisters growing up, I always looked up to them,” Gauff confesses to Vogue. “Now I have people saying they look up to me and it’s a big challenge. Every time I walk onto court I keep that in mind. I’m representing myself, yes, but I’m also representing young girls who want to do big things.”
Does she have a message for you? Yes, indeed! Coco says, “Always dream big. Don’t let anyone limit you in life, the possibilities are endless. If I can do it? You can do it too. Probably three times better.”
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