22 Time Sept. 2–9, 2019
time, this was the match of her life,” Gauff says while
eating zucchini pasta for lunch at a Delray Beach
restaurant that blares classic rock songs that are no-
where near her playlist. She sometimes stretches
a braid across her chin while talking. “I had those
thoughts as well.” So she immediately put the Venus
win behind her and pulled off two more victories,
including a three-set comeback thriller on Centre
Court against Polona Hercog, who had two match
points but couldn’t put the teen away. “I learned
that I’m capable of a lot of things,” says Gauff. Her
magical run didn’t end until a fourth-round loss
to eventual champ Simona Halep, who defeated
Serena Williams in the final. “I learned to fight.”
Gauff earned social-media shout-outs from
A-listers like Michelle Obama—the pair met in D.C.
in August—Magic Johnson, Snoop Dogg and Jaden
Smith, one of her favorite singers. Her Insta gram
following, 30,000 before Wimbledon, is nearly
400,000. Companies of all kinds—airlines, ho-
tels, banks, cosmetics makers—have reached out
to discuss possible sponsorship deals. Seven years
ago, Gauff attended Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the
U.S. Open as a spectator. This year, she’ll take the
stage and sign autographs in New York as a featured
guest before playing in the tournament’s main draw.
Tennis cognoscenti have long rushed to anoint
the “next Serena,” an unfair label for any young
player trying to make her way. Gauff shone in a
single Grand Slam tournament, and she’s not yet
old enough to drive a car, though she could surely
afford one with her $227,786 in Wimbledon win-
nings. But her breakout effort is far from a fluke.
Two years ago, she was the youngest to ever reach
the U.S. Open girls’ final. In May, she became the
youngest player to win a women’s qualifying match
at the French Open. Gauff arrived ahead of sched-
ule. And she declines to tamp down expectations.
Her goal? “It’s to be the greatest,” she says. Of
all time? “Yes.”Gauff’s always been a step ahead. Her mom
Candi, who ran track at Florida State, says her
daughter could recognize letters, in any font, when
she was 2. She’d keep up with her 10-year-old
cousins on a track when she was 3. While most kids
nod off in church or stare at the ceiling on field
trips, Gauff would take notes. In preschool, she
drew a picture of her favorite food: broccoli.
Corey, who played point guard at Division 1
Georgia State University, got his daughter a pink
racket when she was 4: she’d spend hours hitting a
ball against the garage. After Coco finished second
grade, they moved from Atlanta to Delray Beach,
where Corey and Candi had grown up, to give
Coco access to better tennis training. Candi started
homeschooling her, which gave Coco more-flexible
hours to practice. (She’s starting 10th grade.)AfTer An AsTronomicAl rise, re-enTry cAn
feel strange. When Coco Gauff, 15, came back to
her hometown of Delray Beach, Fla., in July, fol-
lowing a star turn at Wimbledon where she de-
feated her idol Venus Williams and became the
youngest woman to reach the fourth round of
the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament
since Jennifer Capriati in 1991, she found a lot
had changed. One Saturday afternoon, the gym in
which she sometimes shoots hoops with her fa-
ther hosted a packed homecoming celebration in
her honor. She also quickly learned to leave a few
minutes earlier for appointments, since strangers
inevitably stop to ask her for a selfie.
On one of those Florida summer mornings
when the temperature reads 87°F but it feels like
150°F, wide-eyed admirers wandered over to a
court where she was conducting a routine training
session, not quite believing that was actually Coco
Gauff working on her serve. “Is there an admis-
sion charge to watch?” one guy asked. (No, replied
Coco’s dad Corey. If you want to stand in this heat,
he said, we should pay you.) A fellow from Amster-
dam, in town visiting friends, came by to offer his
respects. An older woman told Gauff she was so
proud of her, and just lingered before finally leav-
ing for her pickleball game.
Eventually a group of kids from the Delray
Beach Youth Tennis Foundation, who happened
to be attending a clinic a few courts over, migrated
toward Gauff. Her agent had told a foundation rep
she was too busy practicing to stop for a picture.
But during a break, Gauff wasn’t about to keep at
arm’s length from newfound fans— especially ones
her own age. “Can I have a hug?” asked one girl be-
fore a group shot. Gauff obliged.
“How did you feel at Wimbledon with all those
eyes on you?” asked a boy. Gauff ’s reply: “I tried to
pretend I was here.”
That mind trick worked wonderfully, as Gauff
showed that no moment will overwhelm her. A few
days after taking a science exam, she nonetheless
managed her 6-4, 6-4 first-round win over Wil-
liams, a five-time Wimbledon champ, on July 1,
capturing the world’s attention. “On my science
test, I got a B,” Gauff said afterward. “Today I
would give myself an A.” Even better, she wasn’t
done with her high-grade play.
“Some people were probably saying this was one
GAUFF
QUICK
FACTS
Soaring
summer
Gauff’s
ranking
rose from
313 to 141,
her current
position, after
Wimbledon.Name game
Her given
name is Cori,
not to be
confused with
her father
Corey. But
Dad called her
Coco. “I felt
weird saying
my name all
the time,” says
Corey.Speedy
service
Gauff clocked
the third-
fastest top
serve speed
at Wimbledon,
119 m.p.h.,
trailing Serena
Williams
(122 m.p.h.)
and Polona
Hercog
(120 m.p.h.).TheBrief TIME with ...
Teen phenom Coco Gauff
announced her arrival
at Wimbledon. It was just
the beginning
By Sean Gregory