Coco Gauff. She has become a well-known tennis player nationwide, someone that most people root for. Not only has she won a grand slam in the U.S. Open and came runner-up in the French Open, but she has also won six other singles and eight doubles titles. This shows how much she can dominate on the court.
Gauff first appeared on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour in 2019 at the Miami Open, which is fitting because she is from Florida. When she qualified for Wimbledon, the most historical grand slam in the circuit, she became the youngest player ever to qualify. In that tournament, she was able to make a bigger name for herself by defeating Venus Williams in the first round. She seems to be such an unstoppable force, and she is only twenty years old. Not only is she successful on the court, but she is also successful off the court, as she has a fashion line with New Balance. That makes her a tennis star and entrepreneur at such a young age.
Another achievement she can add to her list is being the first U.S. female player to be selected to play on the 2024 United States Olympic tennis team. She is also the highest-ranking U.S. female in the WTA, surpassing Jessica Pegula, who recently held that title.
Coco Gauff is such an inspiration to young tennis players. With the achievements that she has accomplished at such a young age, beating the top ten tennis players, breaking through the top 100 rankings at fifteen years old, and giving back to her community, it is hard not to cheer her on. It makes kids who play tennis want to do the same things she has, which helps build the new generation of tennis players. Gauff has stated before that the people that she looks up to are Venus and Serena Willimas because of their representation, the quality of never giving up, and making a difference off the court. She fights for every point on the court, and it fires up the crowd and herself.
The difference she makes off the court is by helping her communities. She does this by refurbishing tennis courts and donating money to an organization to help with that process. Going back to her inspiration from the Williams sisters, she believes that using her platform on Instagram can make a difference by really connecting with people and getting to know and inspire them. She believes that, like Serena Williams, her platform is used to inspire others.
Even with all the spotlight on her, she remains a grounded person and focuses on what she believes in. She makes sure that if she can help change the sport for the better, she will because there is still so much to be done.