Cori Gauff made a successful return to the Flushing Meadows hard courts for the first time since becoming the the youngest-ever finalist in the girls’ singles event at the US Open last year. Looking to go one step further from her 6-0, 6-2 loss to Amanda Anisimova in the 2017 title match, the No. 1 seed is undoubtedly the favorite. Her campaign got off on the right foot, picking up a 7-5, 6-3 win over Lulu Radovcic.
The hype around the American began years before she stepped on the court in a juniors Grand Slam final. Few other players are the subject of CNN, Sporting News and ESPN articles before hitting high school.
"I'm getting a lot more people recognizing me I would say," Gauff said. "I'm surprised. I'm still a junior player and I'm getting a lot of recognition. Mainly because of [the US Open final] and the French. Especially, New York. The crowd loves the American. I could definitely tell that people came to watch my match; it wasn't just people walking around. I could tell that the people who were there actually looked up when I was playing and came to my court and watched."
Gauff, who goes by "Coco," put the world on notice, becoming the youngest champion in history at the USTA Clay Court National 12-Under championships at age 10. Gauff’s trophy case holds an array of top event prizes, including an Orange Bowl title she won at age 12.
Gauff began playing tennis at the age of six and before committing to tennis full-time, she competed in track and basketball. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as athletics figure prominently in the Gauff family. The prodigy’s mother was a hurdler at Florida State University, while her father, whom she is named for, played basketball for Georgia State University.
The fiery on-court personality is the opposite of the off-court version of Coco. Self-discribed as quiet, Gauff prefers being alone and keeping to herself, but she can't pass up a good game of the popular online game, Fortnite, with her brothers.
The American sits atop the juniors world with the No. 1 ranking and draws parallels to her idol, Serena Williams — residing in Florida and spending quality time training at Patrick Mouratoglou’s Academy. Her biggest triumph came earlier this year, with a stunning run to capture the Roland-Garros title. Since then, life has been a little different for Gauff.
"Winning that definitely boosted my confidence," Gauff said. "I made the finals here, then I lost the first round in Australia and then bounced back to the French. It shows that...I learned from that loss and I was able to move and get better from it."
While on the court all is clicking, some moments are still a learning process. Just over five years removed from being an autograph-seeking fan herself, Gauff admitted to struggling to sign a perfect "Coco," with hands shaking, and managing only zigzags after a high-adrenaline mixed doubles match.
For Gauff, interacting with the fans goes deeper than misshapen Sharpie marks on giant tennis balls. The American makes an extra effort to stop and have conversations with the younger girls who are her fans, remembering when she first came to the US Open, at age eight.
Next up for Gauff, in the second round, is Romanian Selma Stefania Cadar. If all goes according to plan, by the end of the week, the right-hander will be expanding her Grand Slam collection. Perhaps it won’t be much longer before we see Gauff holding up the US Open Tiffany prize in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
