Coco Gauff was born on March 13, 2004, in Delray Beach, Florida. She is now one of the most exciting players in professional tennis. Gauff is only 21 years old, but she has already made history in the sport by combining raw athleticism, mental strength, and a never-ending desire to win. Gauff is not only a star in American tennis, but also a global icon who is changing the game. She has won two Grand Slam singles titles, reached a career-high world No. 2 ranking, and is leaving a lasting legacy both on and off the court.
Early Years and Big Break
Gauff’s path started in a family of athletes. Corey, her father, played basketball at Georgia State University. Candi, her mother, was a track and field star at Florida State. Gauff started playing tennis when she was six years old and was very good at it right away. By the time she was 10, she was training at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France with Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ longtime coach. He praised her determination and athleticism. At 13, she became the youngest finalist in U.S. Open junior girls’ history. At 14, she won the French Open junior title in 2018, which showed that she could be a future star.
At 15 years and three months old, she became the youngest player to qualify for the main draw in the Open Era at Wimbledon in 2019. This was her big break. Gauff shocked the tennis world by beating her idol, Venus Williams, in the first round in straight sets. She showed strength and calmness that are beyond her years. She moved on to the fourth round, which led to “Cocomania” and comparisons to tennis stars like Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati. That same year, she won her first WTA singles title at the Linz Open, making her the youngest WTA champion in more than ten years.
Important Events in Your Career
Coco Gauff has built up an impressive resume since her first performance. She has won 10 WTA singles titles, including two majors: the 2023 U.S. Open, where she became the third American teenager to win the title, and the 2025 French Open, where she beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a thrilling three-set final. This made her the first American woman to win at Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2015. She also won the 2024 WTA Finals, making her one of the best players in the sport at just 20 years old, the youngest champion since Maria Sharapova in 2004.
Gauff has also been very successful in doubles, winning 10 titles, including the 2024 French Open with Kateřina Siniaková and several titles with Jessica Pegula and Caty McNally. In August 2022, she became the best doubles player in the world, showing how versatile she is.
Gauff has had problems even though she is young. She made it to the singles final of the 2022 French Open but lost to Iga Świątek. She also had early exits at the 2022 Australian Open and 2023 Wimbledon, which tested her strength. Her serve has been a big part of her game. It can hit aces at 130 mph or double faults (311 in 2025, the most on the WTA Tour). Gauff hired biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan to help her improve her technique before the 2025 U.S. Open. This helped her win a tough first-round match against Ajla Tomljanovic.
Effect Outside of Court
Coco Gauff is a cultural force in addition to being a great player. SportsPro named her the most marketable tennis player in 2024, ahead of Novak Djokovic. She made $21 million in endorsements alone, making her the highest-paid female athlete that year. People like her because she is real, has a lot of personality, and fights for social justice by talking about things like climate change and racial equality. She and actress Storm Reid paid for a playground and tennis courts in Atlanta’s Brownwood Park in 2023. She also opened a renovated court in Delray Beach as part of the USTA’s $3 million U.S. Open Legacy project.
Gauff’s Olympic journey also shows how driven she is. She had to drop out of the 2020 Tokyo Games because she had COVID-19, but she made her Olympic debut in 2024 in Paris, where she carried the U.S. flag with LeBron James. She played singles, doubles with Pegula, and mixed doubles with Taylor Fritz, saying that her goal was to win gold.
Style of Play and Problems
Gauff is 5’9″ tall and has both explosive athleticism and tactical smarts. Her backhand is one of her best shots, and it often wins points when the pressure is on, like in her 2025 U.S. Open match against Tomljanovic. Her baseline game is good, but her court coverage and net play are even better. She won 12 of 15 net points in that match. But her serve and forehand have been inconsistent, so she has been working with MacMillan to make them more consistent.
What makes Gauff stand out is her mental strength. She talked openly about having trouble with depression and stress in 2020, stressing her strength without getting a clinical diagnosis. Her ability to keep going through matches, like her almost three-hour win at the U.S. Open in 2025, shows that she is more mature than her age.
Looking Ahead
Coco Gauff is on track for even more success, with a career-high ranking of No. 2 and a trajectory that points toward No. 1, as his fellow American Christopher Eubanks predicted. Even though she had some bad times in the middle of the year, her 2024 season ended on a high note with wins in Beijing and the WTA Finals, closing the gap with top players like Sabalenka and Świątek. Gauff’s legacy is already taking shape, not just as a champion, but as a trailblazer who will have a lasting impact on and off the court as she continues to improve her game and inspire a new generation.
