NEW YORK, USA - SEPTEMBER 03: Coco Gauff of USA reacts during 4th round against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at the US Open Championships at Billie Jean King Tennis Center in New York, United States on September 3, 2023. Gauff won in three sets and progressed to quarterfinal. (Photo by Lev Radin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Coco Gauff announces special project close to her heart as she prepares for Paris Olympics
Coco Gauff is giving back to the sport that has given her so much.
The tennis superstar has unveiled a renovated tennis court in Delray Beach, Florida, as part of the USTA’s $3 million US Open Legacy Initiative, which was created in honor of Gauff’s 2023 US Open title and is dedicated “to the refurbishment of tennis courts across the country.”
Gauff, 20, moved to Delray Beach when she was 8, so it made sense to choose these courts.
“First, here is because I think of the court that made the impact to me in the community, put so much into me so I have to give back to the community,” she told TODAY in a segment that aired March 20.
“In total, the USTA is allocating $3 million to reinvigorate courts at parks, schools, and other public facilities across America in honor of Coco Gauff,” the organization said in a statement last September after she won the tournament.
Gauff has a deep connection to the courts in Delray Beach, having trained on them as a child with her father.
“Just every day, every morning — 8 a.m. Just me and him, and just drilling,” she said.
“We knew that she would be a good tennis player. She was working really hard,” her father, Corey Gauff told TODAY. “Did we know that they would embrace her in the world like they are? No, we had no clue.”
It’s clear that Gauff understands the role the courts in Delray Beach have played in her own life.
“I am a product of the strong community — and the village it took to get me to where I am now,” she said while speaking at a ceremony unveiling the court.
The connection to Delray runs even deeper than a tennis court, though. The baseball field next door to the refurbished court is dedicated to her grandparents, with her grandfather having integrated the city’s first Little League team and her grandmother integrated its high school.
Gauff has forged her own path in her sport, upsetting Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019 when she was only 15. Her win at the US Open last year made her the youngest American to win the tournament since Serena Williams. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Williams sisters inspired her.
“I saw myself in Serena and Venus. And so it made me believe that I could do something,” she said.
Gauff continues to look forward. She missed out on the Tokyo Olympics because she had Covid, but she has since become the first American to qualify for the upcoming 2024 Summer Games in Paris, which is her favorite city.
“I particularly want to do it this year and win a medal. That’s one of my dreams that I wanted to do as a tennis player.”
And while she has eyes on Olympic glory, she also has a vision of her refurbished court serving as the breeding ground for future tennis stars who might one day face her at the US Open.
“I would love that,” she said laughing. “Hopefully I wouldn’t lose, but I would love it. And I guess that if that happen, which it probably will, it’ll be my cue to maybe leave the game.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com