CELEBRITY
Coco Gauff Empowers Dreams During Her Return to Pompey Park
For American tennis star Coco Gauff, tennis is about more than competing and winning matches.
It’s about helping other kids achieve their own tennis dreams.
On March 19, Gauff, 20, joined the USTA at Pompey Park in Delray Beach, Florida to unveil the park’s newly refurbished public tennis courts that are now dedicated in her name
In her heartfelt return to her roots at Pompey Park, Gauff told the USTA: “Now, my focus is to continue the growth and also the quality of public tennis courts.”
Coco Gauff’s Legacy at Pompey Park
South Florida native Gauff did not grow up playing tennis at a fancy club. Instead, the tennis sensation has been practicing on the public tennis courts at Pompey Park since she was eight years old, according to her interview with Vogue on March 6, 2024.
In her heartfelt return to her roots at Pompey Park, Gauff told the USTA: “Now, my focus is to continue the growth and also the quality of public tennis courts.”
Coco Gauff’s Legacy at Pompey Park
South Florida native Gauff did not grow up playing tennis at a fancy club. Instead, the tennis sensation has been practicing on the public tennis courts at Pompey Park since she was eight years old, according to her interview with Vogue on March 6, 2024
But young Coco isn’t the only one with special memories at Pompey Park.
Gauff’s family legacy at Pompey Park extends beyond the tennis courts and onto the baseball field, which was named after Gauff’s grandfather, Eddie.
On the day of the unveiling, Coco’s parents, Corey and Candi, shared with WPBF 25 Sports why this event is meaningful for the Gauff family
A legacy that has been generational. My parents did the baseball league and founded it, and their names are on the field and now my daughter is part of the Pompey tennis courts,” Coco’s mother Candi said.
“It’s quite an honor because I literally learned to play tennis on these courts as well,” Coco’s father Corey continued, “Yeah, [Coco] continues to amaze us. She is very grounded, and she’s had a lot of practice with church and doing community events
Gauff now carries her personal ties to Pompey Park with her to every tennis match, as her signature shoe, the Coco CG1s, display the park’s coordinates on the sole.
munity that did a lot for me,” Coco Gauff shared at the event.
According to the USTA Florida, the refurbishment of Pompey Park is just the beginning of the USTA’s broader initiative to renovate public tennis facilities across the country. After Gauff’s US Open triumph, the USTA launched the US Open Legacy Initiative in her honor, earmarking $3 million to upgrade courts at public tennis venues nationwide.