From the Obamas to Delray Beach, Coco Gauff being celebrated for French Open title

Miami Herald

09-06-2025

Coco Gauff has become an international tennis sensation in recent years, counting Barack and Michelle Obama and LeBron James among her well-wishers after she rallied to claim her second Grand Slam title and first French Open on Saturday, 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4 over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Monday morning, she was on the Today show, showing off her replica trophy and discussing her historic win, as she became the first American woman to win the French Open singles title since her idol, Serena Williams, did it a decade ago.
But no matter how famous she gets, or how much money she earns (she is up to $27 million in career earnings), the 21-year-old from Delray Beach keeps her hometown close to her heart -- and her feet.
Her first signature shoe by New Balance was called 'CG1' and had the coordinates of Pompey Park, the Delray Beach public tennis courts where she grew up, inscribed on the soles. The coordinates are 26° 28' 0.75' N, 80° 5' 1.4' W.
Her second signature sneaker, released earlier this year, is called the 'Coco Delray' and the ad campaign features the voice of her maternal grandmother Yvonne Lee Odom, a civil rights trailblazer who integrated Delray Beach public schools 60 years ago.
Odom and Gauff's aunt, Joi, hosted a French Open watch party Saturday for friends and family at Warren restaurant in Delray Beach and local T.V. crews were on hand to capture the jubilation as Gauff fell to the red clay court in disbelief following her victory.
The Gauff family has been known to Delray area sports fans for many years.
Her father, Corey Gauff, was a star basketball player at Spanish River High School and played at Georgia State University. Her mother, Candi Odom Gauff, was a five-time state champion heptathlete at Delray Beach Atlantic High, ran track at FSU, and was also a competitive gymnast.
Gauff began raising eyebrows on the tennis courts as a young girl at Pompey Park and at the Junior Orange Bowl and Orange Bowl tournaments. She said the ad campaign for her new sneaker pays tribute to the Delray Beach community, which continues to support her, win or lose.
She contributed to the refurbishment of the Pompey Park courts in March 2024, as part of a legacy initiative after her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.
Nobody could have imagined that the little girl on those courts would one day be mentioned among the best players in the sport's history. With Saturday's win, she became just the fifth American woman in the Open era to win multiple Slam titles at 21 or younger, joining Serena Williams, Chris Evert, Venus Williams and Tracy Austin.
She has ascended to No. 2 world ranking but still has a way to go to reach No. 1, as WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. Gauff is 3,470 points behind Sabalenka and aims to narrow that gap this summer, first on grass and then on hard courts.
She has never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon, so she hopes for a better showing this time around. After that, it's back to the United States for the hard court summer series and the U.S. Open.
For now, she is taking some days off to rest and enjoy her latest achievement.
'I'm signed up for Berlin [June 14-22] right now, we'll see if I play or not,' she said in her post-French Open press conference. 'This part of the season is new just because of the fact that it's so short, and I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I'll have that conversation with my team and take their opinions and see what they think is best.
'For sure I'm going to rest and enjoy it and not go into training too quickly just because I feel like this stuff doesn't happen too often, so just got to enjoy it.'
This title was extra special because her parents were there to share the journey.
'It's meant a lot to me [to have them there]; they're definitely the ones who listen to my opinion the most, and I think sometimes we hear crazy stories about tennis parents and all that, and I can say I don't relate to that,' she said.
She recently asked her mother to spend more time with her on tour.
'I asked my dad to take a step back, and he did, and it ended up being a great thing for both of us,' Gauff said. 'My mom, I needed her to be on the road more just to have…well, I have my physio, but being on a team full of men, I was, like, I need some estrogen and some female energy here, so I asked my mom to go [smiling].
'Women just notice more things. So, yeah, hugging them at the end. My mom was pretty emotional. My dad was just happy. My dad cried at U.S. Open. He didn't cry here. It's just been so great to have them and be able for them to experience. They put so much sacrifice into this, so I'm glad I get to experience with them.'